A Second Chance
by Boombox94
Summary: In another universe, these four students battled for their lives to take their home back. But in this universe, things have changed. A boy who was once an orphan, a boy who is looking for a new opportunity, a fox Faunus who awaits her new team, a cat Faunus girl who wants her and her mother to be safe once more. Three of them tranfer students. Sometimes, goodbye is a second chance.
1. Chapter 1: A Tearful Goodbye

**AN: Hello and welcome everyone to the AU I talked about in the epilogue of The Brave and the Bold. This one will not have the bad stuff that happened in canon like the breach or the invasion and fall of Beacon. Some things will happen though from The Brave and the Bold. But mostly, things are gonna be different. New characters will show up and things will be more calm.**

 **Also, this one is rated M because I really don't know if the T rating of The Brave and the Bold was right with everything that happened. I gave it this so I can have a bit more leeway in certain things. And there will be some sexual content from an inexperienced writer for it (me) but I'm gonna try it. It won't go into too high of detail, though. And it won't happen often.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy A Second Chance.**

 **XxXxX**

 **Act One: Welcome**

 **Chapter One**

 **A Tearful Goodbye**

 ** _Shade Academy: Team SHRA's (Sahara) dorm_**

Four students sat in their dorm room, all silent as they prepared for their classes to start back for the semester. Well, they were preparing for something else entirely. The departure of a friend.

"I-I'm sorry guys… We just don't feel safe in Vacuo anymore with my father out there…" Alyss told her team as she sat on her bed with two full duffle bags, her ears of black and blonde fur drooping against her skull. Her ash-blonde hair was neatly brushed and the black parts of her hair shined a bit in the light. She wore a pair of loose blue jeans and a loose purple button up shirt, open with a black crop top under it.

"We told you to stop calling him your father, Aly. He gave that right up when he hurt you and mom." Her teammate, Heath Jerran told her, laying her hand on her shoulder and sitting next to her. The girl was five feet and six inches in height when she stood up straight, and she was scrawny. She wore a tank top that hugged her form tightly and a pair of black calf-length pants. Her hair was burnt-orange in color and tied into two long and wavy pigtails, each hanging in down the sides of her head and over her chest. Her jade colored eyes shined with unshed tears of her friend moving away.

Alyss sighed and looked down. "I know... but-"

"It doesn't matter if the piece of crap is your blood. He isn't anything but a bast-"

"Heath!" Their leader, Sapphire Dahlia, interrupted. She wore a loose-fitting green blouse and a pair of thigh-length shorts. She stood at six feet tall. Her light-brown hair was completely straight, unlike Heath's usual wavy hair and it reached the middle of her back. At the ends it was dyed white, matching her Faunus heritage. Her eyes were a deep blue color and they were both cast down in sadness.

"No cussing. You know I hate that..." She said and gripped her boyfriend's hand tighter, their last teammate. Zack Ross.

"I know, I'm sorry… I just don't like it when Alyss calls that guy her father."

"None of us do, but this isn't about him." Zack told her. He was five feet and nine inches in height. He wore a blue bandanna over his head, cut to allow his dog ears to stick out and flop down to the sides of his head. His medium length black hair was parted evenly under the bandanna. He wore a black muscle shirt and gray knee-length shorts.

"Right…" Heath sighed as she looked back to Alyss, "If it'll make you and your mom safer, then you don't have to feel bad, Aly."

"I just feel like I'm abandoning you guys right before the start of the second semester…" Alyss said with tears in her emerald and sapphire eyes.

"You're not abandoning anyone," Sapphire assured her, "We'll manage. We'll be getting a new teammate, sure, but whoever it is is never gonna replace you."

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much."

"We'll miss you too, Alyss," Zack said, "I wish you could stay. Your playful nature really brightened everything up around here with the pounces and the fact that you actually let us scritch your ears. You know we all still love you, right?"

Alyss gave a teary smile as she looked through her team. "Yeah, I love you guys too. Remember when professor Blaine almost blew a gasket when she came in after I pounced on Heath, thinking something else was going on?"

Everyone laughed at the memory from two months prior. "She probably went to get a drink after that. You all just stared at each other like deer caught in spotlights." Zack chuckled and got a slap on the arm.

"Hey! Deer Faunus, remember?" Sapphire said and pointed to the ears on the side of her head above her normal ears.

"Sorry babe," Zack chuckled, "But that was what they looked like."

"...I know." Sapphire said with a grin.

"Maybe it'll be a human guy that'll be in my place?" Alyss said with a small grin, "Y'know… even things out."

"Maybe he'll be a cutie too!" Heath said excitedly.

Everyone rolled their eyes. "We all know what you'll try to do." Alyss said in good nature.

"I can't deny it." Heath admitted with a toothy grin.

Alyss gave a short sigh. "It's hard to believe we all got so close in just a few months."

"I'm glad we did, though," Zack smiled, "We had pretty fun times already… I hope we can hang out soon after you leave."

Alyss' scroll buzzed and she received two messages. One from Headmaster Ozpin from Beacon, and one from her mother. She read Ozpin's first considering it had details of her new teammates.

"There's gonna be two other Faunus in my new team… kinda like us." She told her friends.

"Really?" Zack asked, "I'm not gonna lie, that's weird."

"What kind?" Sapphire asked.

"One's a red fox Faunus with ears. She's from Beacon already. Then there's a cat Faunus like me. He's from Atlas..." Alyss tilted her head at the details of the boy, "He has… both cat ears and a tail? That sounds so cool!"

"Ooh… _Exotic_. Maybe he's got a nature like yours. Hmm?" Heath wiggled her eyebrows, making Alyss blush.

"Zip it, Heath." Alyss told her, but couldn't suppress a small grin.

"Think about it, Alyss! Scritching sessions!"

"Maybe if he likes his ears to be touched..." Alyss said quietly.

"What about the last person?" Zack asked her.

"He's from Mistral. Doesn't say anything else, really."

"Hopefully he won't mind three other Faunus on his team." Sapphire remarked.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Alyss assured her, "I doubt they'd put a racist on a team with three Faunus."

"Makes sense."

Alyss took a deep breath and checked the message from her mother. _'Aly, I'm waiting in the headmistress' office. We're gonna go meet with the airship captain after. It's time to go, sweetheart.'_

That made tears form in her eyes once more as she closed her scroll up and clutched it tightly. "I-I have to go now, guys…"

She stood up and Heath was the first to wrap her in a tight hug. "We'll miss you, Alyss."

Alyss hugged back just as tight. "Thank you all for never minding my nature."

Sapphire was next, wrapping them both in a hug. "It's just who you are. I hope your new team can understand that."

"And I hope you make lots more new friends." Zack said, joining in the hug.

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much." Alyss told them all.

"Goodbye scritches?" Heath suggested.

Alyss nodded and gave a smile. "That would be nice."

They each spent a few moments scritching Alyss' ears, all of them teary-eyed. "I really hope they don't mind this…" She said through light purrs.

"You have another cat Faunus on your new team, I'm sure he won't mind," Sapphire assured her, giving her a few final scritches, "The other two might need a little convincing, but don't worry about it."

"Right… Bye guys."

They all separated and Alyss grabbed her bags after she set her glaive, _Soul Leaf_ , into the hoop on her small harness. She left the room and walked slowly through the first floor hall, trying and failing to hold back her tears. She stepped out the doors and was hit with the heat of the sun, along with the brightness. She took a moment to let her eyes adjust and she made her way to the headmistress' office. Most of the other students knew she was leaving and few had heard the rumors of why, and some had stopped her and wished her luck with her new school, bidding her farewell and safe travels. She smiled and told them goodbye, hoping she could see them again someday.

She soon stood in front of the door to Blaine's office, a look of sadness on her face as she greeted her assistant. She knocked on the door and professor Blaine's deep but soft voice told her to enter.

"Hello miss Wystar. Are you done saying your goodbyes?" Blaine asked her.

"Y-yes ma'am." Alyss answered her.

"I wish you could've stayed with us. But, the circumstances are just… too dangerous for you both."

"I'm sorry we're putting you and headmaster Ozpin through so much trouble." Lilith said to her. Her long, graying black hair was wrapped in a loose ponytail, bound toward the middle. It all reached down to the middle of her back. She had an apologetic look in her deep-hazel eyes.

"Don't apologize, Lilith. This is going to ensure both of you are safe. We're both glad to help you with that."

"Right. Thank you for understanding everything, professor." Lilith stood and bowed to her.

Blaine stood and bowed a bit as well. "I hope you are both happy in your new home. Best of luck in your future endeavors, Alyss."

"Thank you ma'am," Alyss bowed to her, "Goodbye."

"And please," Blaine grinned at her, "Don't give Oz a heart attack like you almost did to me."

"I promise I'll try not too," Alyss let out a short giggle, "Have a good day, ma'am."

The two cat Faunus left the office and walked into Shade's courtyard. Alyss held her head low as she carried her bags. Lilith placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. Alyss looked up to her and she gave a reassuring smile.

"Here, let me carry your bags for you." Lilith offered.

"No, it's okay. I can carry them."

"You've been through a lot today already. Let me do something for you."

Alyss sighed and relented. She handed off her two bags and wrapped her arms over her stomach as she walked. "Thanks, mom."

"It's the least I could do for you right now," Lilith replied and looked to her daughter, "It'll be okay, little cub. Ozpin called me and assured that your new team will be great."

"I'm not worried about that…" Alyss said quietly, "I just… I-I'm abandoning them…"

"Oh?" Lilith tilted her head, looking at her daughter in confusion.

"The second semester is about to start and I'm just… leaving because-"

"Are you still on about that ' _abandoning us_ ' crap?"

Alyss jumped a bit when Heath interrupted her. The two women turned around and saw Alyss' former team behind them. "We told you… you're not abandoning us."

"You know we can handle it… We know _you_ can handle it," Zack said with a smile, "Just be strong like you have been. When you always dealt with _him_."

"Guys… I-I really wish I didn't have to go." Alyss told them all.

Sapphire stepped forward and gave her one more hug. "Me too, Aly. It's gonna be okay, though. We'll all somehow manage without our Kitty Cat."

"Bye Saph… I'll text you all when we get to Vale."

"You'd better. I don't wanna have to worry," Sapphire turned to Lilith, still keeping hold of Alyss, "You guys should get there in the morning, right mom?"

"Yes, we do… Thank you all for being so understanding about this." Lilith said to them all.

"You don't have to thank us. We know it's for the best." Zack replied.

The team shared one more hug, then Alyss and Lilith left the academy.

* * *

"Alyss," Lilith nudged Alyss' shoulder, waking her up from her nap, "We're here."

Alyss sat up and stretched with a _mewl_ escaping her. "I'm supposed to see Ozpin, right?"

"Mhmm," Lilith nodded, "You take the smaller airbus after we land. I'll be heading to our new house to get everything set up right."

Alyss took a deep breath as she felt the airship touch down. The two stood and stepped off, then Lilith gave Alyss' ears a scritch. "Be good, sweetie."

Alyss purred a small bit at the touch. "I will… See you later, mom. Love you."

"I love you too, cub."

They separated and Alyss walked toward the airbus waiting to take her to Beacon. She turned and waved to her mother, who waved back slowly. Alyss continued walking toward the airbus and caught sight of two people standing outside. One wore red and black and one wore black and white.

"Hey! Are you Alyss?" The shorter one, the one in the black and red, called to her.

"Y-yeah!" Alyss called back nervously. They met up with each other and greeted each other.

"Alyss Wystar." Alyss introduced herself.

"I'm Ruby Rose."

"Blake Belladonna."

"Nice to meet you, Alyss," Ruby smiled at her, "Ozpin asked us to lead you to his office."

"Thank you. I don't think it would be good for me to get lost." Alyss said with a small smile.

"Definitely not," Blake gave a grin, "Let's go ahead and get going." She said and the three stepped onto the airbus.

They found a place to sit and Alyss set her bags down. "Do you know if anyone else in my new team are here yet?"

"Nope. Ozpin said you're the first besides Raine." Ruby answered.

"Oh… I hope it's not long until they get here."

"We can help you to your room after you talk with Ozpin if you want." Blake offered.

"Yeah… Thanks."

"Did... you come from a bad team?" Ruby asked quietly.

Alyss quickly shook her head. "N-no. My team was amazing for the short time I was with them… Always understanding and nice and we got so close… It's… I-I really don't wanna talk about it…" Her ears pressed against her skull as she looked down.

"That's alright! You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." Ruby assured her.

They rode the rest of the way in silence until the airbus touched down and the three stepped off from it. "Welcome to Beacon, Alyss!" Ruby said excitedly and skipped ahead, "C'mon! Let's get you to Ozpin!"

Alyss couldn't help but grin at the bubbly attitude. She turned to Blake and whispered very quietly. "Umm… She seems younger. How old is she?"

"She's fifteen, actually," Blake answered in the same whisper, "She was accepted early for stopping a robbery in the commercial district."

"Really? Wow… That's impressive."

"You'd never know it just by looking at her, but she's in the top five fighters in combat class."

"That's really impressive. Maybe I can get in the top ten at least," Alyss grinned a bit, "It's good to see another cat Faunus here. I like the bow."

Blake sighed. "Thank you."

"I understand why some Faunus want to hide their traits. I don't blame you for that."

"Thank you, Alyss."

"You know, one of my new teammates is a cat Faunus too," Alyss told her, "He's got both the ears and tail."

"Really? I've never heard of-"

"C'mon guys! Don't fall behind!" Ruby called back to them both.

"Coming, Ruby!" Blake called back.

Alyss gave a smile. _"Already… I met two friendly people. I might like it here."_ She thought to herself.

* * *

"Ah, miss Wystar," Ozpin greeted Alyss as he stood from his seat, "Allow me to be the third to welcome you to Beacon."

"Thank you for understanding and accepting me, sir." Alyss bowed to him.

"Please, think nothing of it," Ozpin motioned for her to have a seat and she did, "I trust miss Rose and miss Belladonna led you here without incident?" He asked and sat back down.

"Yes sir. Thank you for having them show me here."

"They were happy to help. You received the message concerning your new team, correct?"

"Yes sir. Jace Reznor, Raine Daturas, and Auron Karmine. I know Raine was already here but her team all transferred out, right?"

"Yes, sadly. The other two arrive within the next week. I believe the earliest is actually today."

"Really? Do you know who?"

Ozpin shook his head. "I do not. I'm afraid it will be a surprise. But Raine is already in your room. She will be expecting you."

"Okay. I'm glad I won't be alone."

"I believe you may want to rest after your flight," Ozpin said and Alyss nodded, "You are dismissed. Your room is on the third floor at the very end of the hall on the left. Have a good day, my dear."

* * *

"Since you'll be going past our room, you can meet our team!" Ruby told Alyss with a grin.

"Who are they?" Alyss asked.

"My big sister is one of them. Yang Xiao Long. She's meeting with someone sharing a storage garage for her motorcycle, so she's not there right now. She should be back soon, but she might be mad or annoyed. Watch out for that."

"The other is Weiss Schnee." Blake finished.

"Wait… Weiss Schnee?" Alyss echoed in shock and they both nodded, "How is she to deal with? I mean… I know how people say her family is…"

"She's really nothing like her family," Blake assured her, "She was rough to deal with at first, but she's friendly around most Faunus now unless they give a bad first impression like anyone could."

"That's good. I guess it was a huge shock when she found out… well, you know." Alyss said quietly.

"It was for all of us," Ruby said, "But, everything's fine. We all got everything straightened out."

They stopped in from of RWBY's room and Ruby unlocked the door, then she opened it wide. "Hey Weiss! We're back!"

Weiss nearly fell out of her chair from Ruby's entrance. "Ruby! Do you not know how to keep your voice down!?" Weiss admonished her and straightened herself in the chair.

"Sorry Weiss… but we want to introduce you to someone!"

"Who would you-" Weiss stopped when she noticed Alyss standing just behind her, "Oh! One of the new transfer students!" She said and stood from her seat. She walked over and greeted Alyss, "Hello. I am Weiss Schnee. Pleasure to meet you."

"Alyss Wystar. Nice to meet you too." Alyss greeted back.

Weiss gave a small smile. "No admonishments to my name or family? That's honestly very surprising."

"Don't worry, I don't hold anything against you," Alyss assured her, "Even if you were like that, I wouldn't say anything. I tune those types of people out. Or I just joke around about it to their face and watch them get bothered."

"That's not the way any Faunus reacted when they first met me." Weiss said with a small grin.

"Yo!" The golden-haired girl of the team called from down the hallway. She ran up to them an stopped in front of the doorway, "Hey there! I'm Yang Xiao Long. I take it you're Alyss?"

"Yeah, I am." Alyss answered.

"Good to meetcha' ."

"You too."

"How'd that meeting go?" Blake asked her partner.

"It was actually really good. No stupid questions, he made sure his motorcycle wouldn't fall over and hit _Bumblebee_ , and he didn't make it last longer than it needed to be. He was actually pretty early too," Yang answered, them she turned to her sister, "Hey Rubes, get this… He's got an artillery claymore."

"An artillery claymore? I've never heard of those! It sounds so cool!" Ruby said excitedly.

"I get the feelin' he ain't just here as a tourist, so you might get to talk to him about it."

"Awesome! Ooh I really wanna see it!"

Yang rolled her eyes at the over-excited attitude. "I'm actually pretty surprised he wasn't a jerk, to be honest. Oh! And he's a Faunus too. Cat Faunus. Umm, that's not why I was surprised. Most of the people I've met that ride motorcycles turned out to be jerks."

"A cat Faunus? Did he have a tail and ears?" Alyss asked.

"Nope, just ears. Why?"

"One of my new teammates has ears and a tail. I was hoping to get to know him sooner."

"Ah, that makes sense. Because you're both cat Faunus?" Yang asked and she nodded a bit sheepishly, "I haven't seen him around, though. Do you think details might've got mixed up?"

"I don't know, really. I was looking forward to meeting someone with ears and a tail.

"I'm sure he'll still be cool." Ruby assured her.

Alyss nodded and smiled. "It's nice to meet friendly faces first thing."

"That's always a good thing," Yang grinned, "Can't be meetin' a group of A-holes right when you step on campus. That'd look bad for the school."

"Definitely," Alyss laughed, "I'm gonna go ahead and get to my room. It's been a long trip here."

"Alright, see you later." Ruby said and she walked down the hall.

Alyss smiled to herself. _"I'm glad they're friendly. Really surprising to see a Schnee the same team as another Faunus, but she was nice."_

After a few moments, she arrived outside the room that was supposed to be her new team's. She took a deep breath and held her scroll up to the handle, then the look disengaged. She stopped herself from opening it, deciding on knocking first.

"Come on in!" A feminine voice called from the inside.

Alyss grabbed and turned the handle, then opened the door. She was met with a short fox Faunus standing near the window, looking at her with a smile. She wore a pair of green cargo pants and a black t-shirt. She had medium length, dark-red hair and light red eyes to match. Her fox ears were the same color as her hair and had tufts of black fur at the tips.

"Hey, I'm Raine Daturas. I guess you're Alyss?" The girl greeted.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you."

"You too. Go ahead and set your stuff down!" Raine said and showed her into the room, "You can pick a bed, except for that one," She pointed to the middle-left bed, "That's mine."

"Okay," Alyss said and set her bags down on the opposite bed, "This room seems bigger than what I saw of team RWBY's."

"That's because it's at the end of the hall," Raine explained, "Since they had no room for two more rooms, they had to have this one and the one across from it be bigger than most. Same with the other floors. It's why we get a table."

"Well this is off to a good start," Alyss gave a grin, "A bigger room than almost everyone else? I'm sure that would make some people jealous."

"It did to a few people," Raine laughed, "I hope I'm not being rude or anything, but is your hair dyed? If it's not, then that's a cool color for it."

"It's natural. A lot of people's asked me that." Alyss said, then her stomach started growling loudly, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

"Hungry?" Raine asked with a grin.

"Very."

"Me too. Wanna go grab something to eat?"

Alyss gave a smile. "Yeah, let's go."

They exited the room and walked down the hall, walking faster to get food in them sooner. "What made your team wanna transfer?" Alyss asked.

"They all had different reasons. Nika changed her mind a bit late and wanted to be closer to her home, Hunter wanted to go where his dad went, and Kenn just wanted to live in Mistral. What about you?"

"It's a really personal reason… I'm not comfortable talking about it yet."

"That's okay, I won't push for details."

"Thanks. I'll tell you all sometime… Hopefully soon."

They soon arrived at the doors leading out and they were opened by a larger boy coming inside with a huge sword on his back and with two duffle bags and a sack over his shoulder. He was joined by Jaune Arc, the black hoodie and blue jeans unmistakeable by Raine.

The dark-brown haired one held the door open for them and both he and Alyss looked at each other for a moment, each eventually looking toward each other's cat ears. His was dark red in color and his eyes were a ruby red.

"Thank you." Alyss and Raine told him and walked out.

Alyss cast another glance back to the boy and saw him looking back. The boy waved and she waved back slowly. She blushed and looked forward and she and Raine walked on to the cafeteria.

"I wonder who that was with Jaune…" Raine said.

"I dunno…" Alyss said as she tilted her head, "He was polite, though."

"Yeah, he was. Who knows? Maybe he's our teammate?"

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: And there was the first chapter where Zack's girlfriend and Heath were introduced. In this, everyone actually start out in teams but transfer out for different reasons, Alyss' being her that her father is somewhere free in Vacuo. But with this story, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Don't know if I'm using that right, but it kinda makes sense to me.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	2. Chapter 2: Finally

**AN: Just something to say real quick before this chapter starts. I feel the same way about this that I did with The Brave and the Bold. No matter how this goes, I'm putting out all the chapters and finishing this. Just to get it out there after working for months on it because I'm not having this sit on my phone after all of that.**

 **Anyway, here's the chapter.**

 **Chapter Two**

 **Finally…**

 ** _Atlas Academy: General Ironwood's office_**

"I just… I can't deal with those two anymore, sir. I'm sorry." The dark-brown haired teen said to Ironwood with a sigh. Both he and his brother were seeing him about the situation with their team. He wore his combat outfit. He wore a black denim jacket with only the left sleeve, loose over his arm. It was lightly armored on the left side and had two light shoulder guards. On his right arm, he had a spaulder with a design of a snake wrapping around a cross. Under that, his entire arm, hand, and fingers were covered in bandages. He wore a pair of black cargo pants and black boots with white straps around the tops of them and zippers on the sides. His dark-red tail was wrapped protectively arond his waist and his cat ears were drooped down against his skull.

His brother wore his sleeveless, dark-red duster over his chestplate that had the same design as the other's spaulder. He wore a pair of black jeans and dark brown work boots. He rested his head in his hand which was propped up by his elbow on the armrest of the chair. His greatsword, _Standoff_ , leaned against the wall next to the doorway along with his brother's greatsword, _Legacy_.

"Are you sure about this, Jace?" Ironwood asked him.

"If it was just them saying stuff about me, then I could tolerate it more. But Michael grabbed my tail and just pulled… It felt like he would rip it off… I can't deal with that again… If it happened again I would probably do something bad. He's lucky that Genesis got him off of me."

"He's lucky he got off with a broken nose." Genesis added.

"I understand, but I wish there was another way," Ironwood sighed, "And you're sure you want to switch to Beacon?"

"I'm sure, sir. It's… something me and Gen wanted to do too."

"And what would that be?"

"You've seen that we're pretty evenly matched," Genesis stated and the General nodded, "We talked about it before and we came up with something. We could go to different schools and train differently. Then after awhile, we see who gets better."

"A competition of sorts?" Ironwood asked and the brothers nodded, "I suppose that's a way to do it… It could also be a competition between Atlas and Beacon themselves in a way."

"I'm sorry if I'm letting you down with this, sir… I tried…" Jace said sadly.

"It's alright, Jace. Ozpin and I have already discussed this and finalized the paperwork yesterday."

"That was faster than I thought…" Jace remarked.

"It was a month." Genesis said.

"Yes, but I still don't have details of your new team as of right now," Ironwood told Jace, "You both may be dismissed. Jace… good luck at Beacon."

* * *

"So, how's it feel going to a new school?" Haile asked Jace over dinner that day in Haile's penthouse. His dark green hair was bound in a short ponytail. Both it and his short beard were peppered with gray hairs, which he adamantly calls silver. He wore a black and white camouflage hunting vest and a white dress shirt under it. Over his legs he wore black jeans and a pair of black boots. His sky-blue eyes looked at Jace with a bit of sadness and more than a bit of pride.

"Feels like a sweet release from those two…" Jace said with a sigh as he stabbed his fork through a piece of raw tuna in his plate.

 _"It's gonna be so weird being so far from home."_ He thought to himself and took a bite of it.

"Forget about them," Genesis told him, "I might have to stay on the same team with them, but fuck it. I'll set their asses straight if it's the last thing I do."

"Yeah, I'm definitely gonna try. I'm sorry you have to stay with them," Jace said, "It's gonna be weird to get used to it all… New kingdom, new school, new people… It's gonna be so weird."

"No doubt about that," Haile gave a small grin, "You'll be okay. After this, we'll get to the house and you can finish packing. I'm surprised Ironwood is letting you use the _Ravensword_ for when you go tomorrow."

"He said it was to get me there faster and to get used to Beacon faster. It's nice of him."

"It's a reason I work for him."

"Might sound bad to say, but at least you had hardly any friends here," Genesis said with a grin, "Not really leaving much of anyone behind that you care about."

"Besides you two and Apricot." Jace sighed.

"You've been through a lot, Jace," Haile said to him, "This is just moving schools. Nowhere close to what you've dealt with before."

"Right… Just moving kingdoms, thousands of miles away from my family and my only friends," Jace groaned, "It's a new start at least."

Genesis reached over and scritched his ears. "It'll be alright. You got this, bro."

Jace closed his eyes and purred lightly as his tail swayed back and forth behind them. "Yeah… It'll be fine."

Just then, Jace's scroll buzzed and he received a message from headmaster Ozpin of Beacon.

"Who's that from?" Haile asked.

"Ozpin." Jace answered and Genesis chuckled as he stopped rubbing Jace's ears.

"In trouble already?"

"Eat it, Gen," Jace laughed before he checked the message, "Oh, it says who my new teammates are."

"Really? Who are they?" Genesis asked and payed close attention.

"Two female Faunus. One cat Faunus with ears and one fox Faunus with ears, then a human male."

"A cat Faunus huh? I'm sure you'll get along _great_." Genesis winked at him.

"Hey, I'm not thinking about that stuff right now. I just want to get there and see how everything is."

"You'll do alright with it," Haile assured him, "At least it's not in the middle of classes."

"True."

"Your arm doing okay?" Haile asked.

"Still annoying… it feels like blood rushes to it all the time." Jace answered and looked at his bandaged right hand. It had been burned badly recently while he was training with burn dust. He still kicked himself over that. He should have known his aura's limits.

"Just remember to change the bandage every day."

"Yeah, I will. I already have bandages and ointment in my bag."

"It should get better soon, so you shouldn't have to deal with the pain much longer." Genesis said.

"Yeah, I'm hoping."

The family finished off their food and left the penthouse. It was an hour and a half drive through the city and to their house on the outskirts. Haile went inside while Genesis led Jace to the garage were his motorcycle, _Titan_ , sat.

"It'll be weird not having my little brother by my side." Genesis said silently while they stood in separate places.

"Yeah… It's gonna be weird." Jace agreed.

Genesis cleared his throat. "Umm, I've been doing some things to the case. I figured I'd get your opinion of it." He said and showed what he had done to his motorcycle.

Jace knelt down and looked it over. "It seems a bit bigger than what you need it to be."

"Is it?" Genesis asked as he took his sword off his back. He opened the case and set _Standoff_ inside and it was loose, not snug-fitting as it should be.

"Huh… how about that…" Genesis mumbled, his eyes starting to blur, "You try yours."

"Okay…" Jace said and took _Legacy_ off his back. He placed it in the case and it fit perfectly, no rattling around or anything.

"Why does my sword fit it but yours doesn't?" Jace asked quietly and looked to his brother.

"Because… I've been thinking about this since you said you wanted to switch to Beacon…"

"Gen… this is your motorcycle. The one you spent almost five years putting back together..."Jace said as his disbelief grew, "Don't tell me you're just-"

"Listen, Jace," Genesis interrupted him, "You're going to a new kingdom. A huge fucking kingdom at that… And honestly, I think you'll get more use out of it than me right now. It's a gift… and I think you might be able to use it."

"You're seriously giving me _Titan_?" Jace asked and Genesis nodded, "Oh Oum… thanks, man." He said and hugged him.

Genesis returned the hug with a grin. "Just take care of it. I already called over there about meeting with the people for a storage place. You'll make it there in time. It's at three and you should get to Vale around maybe one."

"You expected me to take it?"

"Hey… I would've forced you to take it."

Jace sighed and they separated. "Thanks… I'll take care of it."

"I know you will. I'll probably be getting something else soon."

"You're gonna just buy another one?"

"Yeah, I saved a few thousand lien from that settlement I got a couple years ago from when... _that_ happened. I should be good to get something I want."

Jace gave a short laugh. "It won't be the same if you don't build it yourself, y'know?"

"Trust me, I know."

* * *

"Okay… Meeting at that storage place, right?" Jace asked Genesis after he called. Jace had just landed in Vale and he called to make sure he was going to the right place.

"Yep. I sent the directions in a text. You'll be sharing a garage with a girl named Yang Xiao Long, so be ready for that."

"Sharing? I wonder how big the garage is, then."

"Who knows. You should be able to find it easy…" Genesis sighed, "Why'd you take that damned journal with you?"

"Oh… you know about that?"

"Yeah, we know. You usually kept it under your bed."

"Why'd you look under my bed?"

"To make sure you didn't forget anything. Like the tools for that artillery claymore of yours."

Jace sighed. "I took it because sooner or later, I'm gonna tell my new team about it… and new friends if I make them. I'll need it to go by."

"You really think you'd wanna dig that up?"

"I wouldn't want to, really. I just think I should."

Genesis was silent for several moments before he sighed. "Just take it at your own pace. Look… if those two start talking shit about how you left, then I'm gonna completely go off on them. It might slip about what happened to us both..."

"Honestly… don't worry about it I guess. Hell, if it makes them shut up about my tail then go for it…"

"I hope I doesn't slip. I know how bad you want to keep it a secret. And gods I want to too."

"Y'know, you always keep what happened to your mom and dad a secret from everyone else too…" Jace said lightly.

"Hmm… Yeah, I know. Maybe we should both get everything off our chests sometime."

"Maybe…"

"I'm gonna get off here now. Get to that meeting before you make a bad impression."

"Right… Talk to ya later, Gen."

They ended the call and Jace slipped his bags over his shoulders. He put his helmet on and slipped his goggles over his eyes, then he hopped on _Titan_ and stomped the lever on the side to start it. He drove away from the airship he took to Vale and went through the streets for thirty minutes before reaching the place Genesis said for him to be. There, he saw a man and a young woman with golden-blonde hair.

The man didn't give any expression, but the girl looked annoyed to be there. Jace sighed. _"Already on someone's bad side… great. Maybe I can salvage it."_ He thought to himself as he stopped the motorcycle near them and turned it off.

"Hello, are you Jace Reznor?" The man asked him.

Jace nodded as he took his helmet off. "Yeah, I am. I'm not late, am I?" He asked and put his goggles around his neck.

"No, you're actually early," The blonde girl said, "I'm Yang. The one you're sharing a garage with."

"Nice to meet you, Yang." Jace greeted.

"If there are no questions, I'll verify your scroll to unlock the building." The man said and Jace handed him his scroll.

Jace took the time and opened the case on the side of his motorcycle. He took _Legacy_ out and put it on the magnetic plate of his harness under his dark-purple jacket.

"Huh, that's new. Pretty cool." Yang remarked.

"Thanks. My brother built it all from the ground up and gave it to me yesterday. Took him a few years." Jace replied.

"I did the same with _Bumblebee_. My bike. Not the case, just buildin' it myself."

"I hope this isn't bothering you… Y'know, this meeting."

"It's alright. I didn't have any plans for the day. Just a bit annoyed that it cut in on my relaxation time."

"Yeah, sorry. I want to relax too after my flight here."

"Where ya from?"

"Atlas."

"Shoulda figured that out from the snow chains."

Jace chuckled. "What about you?"

"I'm from Patch. Came here with my sister."

"Huh, I heard it was nice to live there."

Yang nodded. "Yeah, it is. Small town on the coast, a nice beach up the coast too," She gave a grin as she looked at the weapon on Jace's back, "That looks like a hell of a sword."

"Thanks. It's an artillery claymore."

"A what?"

Jace grinned and took it off his back. He took the large magazine out and opened the tip of it with his aura, exposing the large barrel. "Exactly what I said. Uses really big bullets and it's really powerful."

Yang gave a grin. "You should meet my sister. She'll love to hear all about it."

"Here you go," The man said and opened the garage door with Jace's scroll. He handed the scroll back to Jace and nodded, "You're all set. If there's nothing else, I'm gonna go."

"No, I'm good. Thank you and have a good day." Jace said and put his sword on his back again.

"You too."

"Alright, I guess I'll get _Titan_ inside and we can get out of here." Jace said and started rolling _Titan_ into the garage, as far from the other motorcycle as he could get it.

" _Titan_ , huh? It fits. Pretty big motorcycle." Yang remarked.

"Yeah, it's what my brother went by with naming it." Jace grinned. He let go of it and made sure nothing was under its wheels to set it off balance. When he was sure it was okay, he checked the distance between the two motorcycles in case his did somehow fall over. Satisfied that _Titan_ wouldn't come close to touching _Bumblebee_ if that happened, Jace stepped out and the garage was closed up.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would." Yang said.

"Helps that I got here early, right?"

"Definitely."

"Bye Yang. Maybe we can both go relax." Jace told her.

"Yeah. Seeya around."

From there, the two separated to their own devices. Jace walked toward the closest airdocks as he shook his head. _"I should've asked if she was from Beacon. She looked like she could be. Her sister probably is from her telling me she'd like to see Legacy… Shit, I hope I don't get lost."_ He thought with a sigh.

Along the way, there was a large wooden stand set up where a dog Faunus woman and her son were selling fruit. Jace almost licked his lips at seeing large apples for sale. He had developed a craving for them since Haile had given him one after he took Jace in. It always took him back to that happiness of finally finding a loving home after what had happened.

He stepped up to the stand and looked over the apples as his tail uncoiled from around his waist. It swished around behind him as he dug inside his pocket for his wallet.

"Hello sir!" The young boy greeted him, "You wanna buy some fruits?"

"Jack," His mother laughed, "You're supposed to ask, ' _Would you like to buy some fruit_ '?"

Jace nodded quickly and brought a five lien card from his wallet. "How much apples will that get me?"

"Hmm… You don't seem like you're from here. You're dressed too warm for the weather." The woman said with a curious expression at seeing the midnight-purple jacket he wore.

"Oh, no, I'm not from here. I'm from Atlas. I just transferred to Beacon." Jace told her.

"Oh? Normally, that would get you eight. Since you're new to Vale and you're a Huntsman-in-training, you can have a sack of twenty apples for that."

"Really? That's nice of you, ma'am." Jace said with a smile.

"Don't mention it. I'm Caitlyn Reigns, by the way," She said and started bagging the apples. She looked to her son to introduce him as well, "And this is my… Jack! Stop staring at his tail!"

Jack jumped and looked away. "Sorry! I-I didn't know Faunus could have a tail and ears at the same time…"

Jace laughed and gave a smile. "I don't mind it. I was just born with a mutation, so I'm special."

"Really? That's so cool!" The boy exclaimed.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "Oh pup, you're curious about everything, aren't you?"

She finished bagging the apples and Jace handed her the lien. "Thank you Caitlyn, and thank you Jack." Jace thanked them both.

Caitlyn nodded and handed him one more apple. "And that one's free. Have a good day."

"You too. I'll probably be back sometime. Probably soon."

"We look forward to it."

Jace continued walking down the street with the bag of apples slung over his shoulder. He smiled as he took a bite of the free apple, a bit of juice trickling down his chin.

 _"This is really good. I wonder where they grow these…"_ He wondered in his head.

Before long, he found the airdocks and an airbus ready to depart. There was a blonde boy standing outside of it wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans, looking like he was waiting for someone.

Jace stepped up to him and the blonde greeted him. "Hey, are you Jace Reznor?"

"That's me. Who are you?" Jace asked in return.

"Jaune Arc. Ozpin asked me to help you get to his office when we get up to Beacon."

Jace sighed in relief. "Thank Oum. I was afraid I was gonna get lost. Let's go."

* * *

"Hello mister Reznor. Please, have a seat." Ozpin greeted Jace when he entered the office.

"Hello sir. Thank you for accepting the transfer."

"After hearing your reasoning, it was the least I could do to help." Ozpin replied solemnly.

"Yeah…" Jace sighed, "I just couldn't take it anymore. Just the constant verbal stuff I tolerated but… he was lucky I didn't break his hand for grabbing my tail."

"Don't think of that. Just think of your future and your new team."

"Speaking of that, is anyone other than Raine here now?" Jace asked.

"Only one. Alyssia Wystar. I met with her only a little while ago."

"She's the other cat Faunus, right?"

"Yes, she is," Ozpin gave a short sigh, "Mister Reznor, I should tell you that your father told me everything of what you've been through. From when you were a child."

Jace nodded. "Yeah… I told him to. It's something that you needed to know, same with Ironwood. You should know that I'm not really a Faunus."

"It is understandable that you wanted to keep it a secret. I appreciate you having him tell me. What are the specifics of… this situation?"

Jace reached into his bag and grabbed the journal he brought with him. "This'll tell you better than what I can," He said and handed it to Ozpin. He took it and opened it to the marked page, "Basically… I can use dust at will. I have the instincts, senses, and urges of a cat Faunus, and I grew cat ears and a tail. It took me awhile to be able to use the dust… My brother went through the same thing, but he never recieved any Faunus traits like me. We still don't fully know why I did..."

"I hate calling myself a Faunus… It's just not true. I wasn't born with these ears and the tail. If I was gonna be Faunus, I just wish I was born Faunus."

"I am glad that man was executed and your birth parents were locked away for life. You didn't deserve to have that happen." Ozpin said lowly and looked back through the pages.

"It made it worse when I dealt with the racists..."

Ozpin finished reading through the journal and sighed. He handed it back to Jace and he shoved it back in his bag with his bandages. "Thank you for understanding, sir."

"Think nothing of it. I will be telling the other professors, but no one outside us will know unless you tell them. Do you have any objections?"

Jace shook his head. "It's alright with me. Just… not any other students."

"I understand. That, you would need to do yourself. I believe you should go rest. I'm sure you need it after your flight. Your room is on the third floor of the dormitories. At the end of the hall on the left."

"Yeah… that would be nice. Thank you sir." Jace said and left the office.

* * *

"So… what's in the sack?" Jaune asked as he and Jace made their way to the dorms.

"Apples." Jace replied simply.

"You have a sack of apples?" Jaune asked in confusion, "I'm not gonna lie, that's the weirdest thing I've heard."

"What?" Jace laughed, "I really like apples. Have since my dad adopted me."

"Oh, you were adopted?"

"Yeah…" Jace sighed.

"Still a sore topic?"

"Kinda. I'll tell you someday."

"It's fine if you don't." Jaune assured him.

Soon after, they came to the dorms. Jace opened the door and was met with the sight of a cat and fox Faunus, both with ears of their respective animal. His ears twitched a bit as he looked to the cat Faunus'.

He held the door open for them and they thanked him. Jace stopped and looked back toward the cat Faunus. He didn't know what it was, but he was just drawn to her. Her eyes specifically when he saw them. Emerald and sapphire. They were absolutely beautiful to him.

 _"Who is that? She's so pretty…"_

The girl looked back at him and he waved nervously at her. She waved back and turned back around, then he and Jaune walked on into the building.

"I think those were your new teammates. Raine was the short one." Jaune told him.

"And I take it the other one is Alyss…" Jace said.

"Looks like it could be. You wanna go talk to them?"

"No, not right now," Jace said and looked at his right arm, "I need to change the bandages on my arm." They reached the third floor and walked down the hall.

"What happened to it?" Jaune asked and couldn't help but look at Jace's arm.

"I'm an idiot and wasn't paying attention to my aura when I was practicing with burn dust. I wrecked my arm pretty badly and it's all burned." Jace answered.

"That sounds like it sucks. I hope it gets better soon."

"Same here. It _does_ suck." Jace said.

They came to a stop outside Jaune's room and Jace could hear a girl talking loudly inside with a cheerful voice. Jaune grinned and turned to Jace. "Wanna meet my team?"

Jace gave a smile. "Sure. It'll be even with the people I know from Atlas."

Jaune unlocked the door and opened it to his orange-haired and turquoise-eyed teammate, bouncing up and down on her bed with a plate of pancakes in her lap. She sat next to a raven-haired boy with pink eyes and a streak of lavender in his hair.

"Hey guys, you wanna meet someone new?" Jaune asked them.

"Sure!" The energetic girl said with a wide grin. She passed the plate to the boy next to her and he set it on the nightstand. They both stood from the bed and came out to greet him.

"You're one of the new guys, right?" The girl asked and Jace nodded, "Cool! I'm Nora, this is Ren." She introduced herself and the boy.

"Good to meet you." Ren said.

"You too. I'm Jace Reznor." Jace greeted with a smile.

" _Hello~_ ," A red-haired girl with a long flowing ponytail stepped from the side of the room and greeted him with a singsong voice, "I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Welcome to Beacon, Jace."

"Thanks. I'm really glad to be here," Jace said, "You fought against… Auron Karmine in those tournaments in Mistral, right?" Jace asked.

Pyrrha let out a short sigh. "Yes… I have."

"Oh cool," Jace grinned, "He's gonna be on my new team. Can you tell me about him?"

Pyrrha's expression lifted. "Auron's coming to Beacon? It's been so long since I've talked to him!"

"Is that your friend you told us about?" Nora asked her.

"It is," Pyrrha answered and turned to Jace, "He is a great fighter as he is such a nice person. He holds absolutely no resentment toward any Faunus. He'll be a great member of your team."

"I'll look forward to it. Thank you."

"Also… I won't lie in saying I expected praise from you… Like nearly everyone from Haven."

"Because you're a really good fighter?" Jace asked and she nodded sheepishly, "I honesty don't see why I would. Yeah, you fight really awesomely, but you're just you and you just have different skills than everyone else."

"Thank you…"

Jace nodded as he thought about something. "I guess I should get this out of the way… Wanna see something cool?"

"Umm… Sure?" Jaune answered.

Jace uncoiled his tail from around his waist and moved it around for them to see it. He grinned at seeing their reactions of shock to it. "I was born with a mutation. It let me have both the ears and the tail."

 _"I really hate having to lie about this…"_

"That's cool!" Nora exclaimed.

"I think I'm gonna go to my room now," Jace said and just let his tail stay free for the moment, "I need to change the bandages on my arm from where it was burned."

"Okay. See you around, Jace." Jaune said and the others said goodbye.

Jace grinned as he walked on down the hall to his room. He was surprised to see Pyrrha in Beacon. He would have expected her to stay in Mistral where she was born and raised. Although, the same could be said for him and two of his new teammates as well. Or anyone that came from a different kingdom.

He came to the door and held his scroll to the handle. The lock disengaged and he opened the door. There was a table in the middle of the room and the desks were off to the right side in the corner. The beds had one nightstand between them and one bed had two bags on them, possibly from Alyss.

He set his bags on the table and set his sack of apples next to them. He took his jacket off and looked at his arm. It was throbbing in pain and he sighed heavily.

"Why can't you help me now, aura?" He asked to no one and started undoing the bandage.

After a few moments, he had his arm free of its bindings and he decided to let it have some fresh air for a bit. He looked at it and sighed. All the scars were just… unsettling to look at. If it was just scars from cuts, he could just deal with those normally. But looking at the burn scars just made him feel sick.

He spent a few minutes letting it air out and he grabbed an apple from his bag. He ate around on it as he played music from his scroll's speaker to take away the silence.

Before the tenth song ended, the door opened and admitted the two Faunus from before. "Oh, hello! I guess you're Jace Reznor?" The fox Faunus asked.

"I am. Nice to meet you." Jace said and couldn't help but notice the other girl's eyes locked onto his arm.

 _"Fuck…"_

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: And there was Jace's prologue, I guess you could call it. This story will have Genesis and Haile interacting with everyone. And no Armaddon burned his arm.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	3. Chapter 3: A New Opportunity

**Chapter Three**

 **A New Opportunity**

 _ **Haven Academy: Headmaster Lionheart's office**_.

"You kiddin' me?" The raven-haired teen asked in disbelief at what Lionheart told him, his bright auburn eyes narrowing. His team had all apparently decided to quit school, leaving him shocked and even more annoyed, "I know we fought a Geist an' all but… they're just done?"

"I'm afraid it's true, Auron. Mister Woods, mister Oak, and mister Gray all decided this wasn't for them." Lionheart confirmed.

Auron sighed heavily. "At the start o' the break? So what am I gonna do?"

"Well… I received word from headmaster Ozpin from Beacon and he said a student's team all transferred out, leaving her alone. He already found two that are from Atlas and Shade. Would you… want to switch to Beacon to join them?"

Auron stayed silent for a few moments as he considered the option _. "Beacon, huh…?"_ He thought to himself _, "I mean, that's supposed to be the best school, not that this one ain't good. Shouldn't be a problem to pay more for the travel an' the school fees… Plus, Pyrrha's there an' I could hang out with her again… Hopefully people ain't been houndin' her about her wins."_

"Ya know what… Yeah, I'll go. Kinda saves you the trouble of havin' to find me a new team here."

"I can't deny that," Lionheart said, "It'll be a shame to lose a skilled fighter like you, but it isn't my decision. We'll transfer what your family paid over to Beacon, but you'll have to pay a bit more if you really decide to go. If you do, I'll send the costs to your scroll. I think you should speak with your family about this."

"Yeah, definitely," Auron agreed, "I guess… I guess I'll get outta your hair."

"Call me and tell me what they've decided."

"I will. Bye."

 _"So… Beacon… Damn, that's somethin'."_

* * *

"So they turned out to be a buncha pansies?" Preacher asked as they ate dinner. The old lavender-eyed man cocked an eyebrow. His brown hair was barely brown at all anymore, mostly gray.

"Preacher…" Kathy sighed, glaring a bit at him with her sunset-orange eyes. Her light-brown hair was long and wavy, reaching her backside.

"I don't think that's a swear, hon." Smoke grinned at her. His auburn eyes held a bit of mirth in them as he picked the crust of a piece of chicken from his long black and gray beard.

Kathy rolled her eyes. "I don't guess so. It's just a weird word to me."

"Can we get back on track?" Auron asked after he took a bite of mashed potatoes and swallowed.

"Yeah, this is important," Smoke said and looked at his son, "So, your team high-tailed it an' left, an' now you got a chance to go to Beacon?"

"Yep, that's the situation I'm in. We'd have to pay a bit more an' send that over to Beacon, but it won't be a whole lot more from what Lionheart said… I wanna go." Auron said.

"You wanna just switch schools in between semesters?" Preacher asked.

Auron nodded. "They already got the others lined up for it. I don't wanna put Lionheart through findin' me a new team here. I'd be able to hang out with Pyr again an' I just think it's a big opportunity for me. Y'know… I get to go to a new kingdom, meet new people… It's a better school too from what I've heard. It's why it's more expensive."

"They already got three others?" Smoke asked.

"Yeah, one's already there. Her team all transferred to different places. It's a bit weird."

"I'll say," Smoke shook his head. He looked to his wife, who had stayed silent for the most part, "What do you think about it all, Kat?"

"I… I don't know," She answered, "I want you to do what you want, Auron… But I don't want you to be so far away…"

Auron sighed. "I'll be okay, mom. It ain't like I'll be in the middle o' nowhere. Plus, Pyrrha's gonna be around too. She'll keep me in line."

"I know, but I just don't like worrying…" Kathy said, "I know you'll be okay. But It's going to be strange without you here."

"I'm sure he ain't gonna get into any trouble over in Vale," Smoke assured her, "An' he'll have his truck, so he can get around easy."

"I don't have any objections to you going," Kathy said to Auron, "I just don't like not being able to check in on you easily."

"You're actin' like a mother hen, Kat," Preacher grinned, "I kinda feel the same way, but there's usually a Ranger at Beacon. I can keep in touch with Will an' Vivi every so often."

"Is everyone okay with me switchin' over?" Auron asked his family. They all nodded their heads, "Okay… after I eat, I'll give Lionheart a call an' let 'im know."

* * *

 _ **Three weeks later**_

"I never wanna see a damn Geist again," Auron said as he, Preacher, Smoke, and Emowyn sat on the front porch, "Creeps me the fuck out."

"At least we took it down with minimal injuries," Emowyn said, slipping her hood off her head, revealing her dark-red hair and violet eyes and letting her black fox ears stand up fully, "Those things are extremely rare so we shouldn't have to worry about them much anymore."

"Thank Oum." Preacher said and took his flask from inside his shirt.

"So Auron, you're going to Beacon?" Emowyn asked the young teen.

"Yep. Didn't think I ever would. I mean, I would've tried to go for the tournament, but hell. I'm gonna be an actual student." Auron answered her.

"Any word from Leo or Ozpin?" Smoke asked him.

"Oh yeah, I got couple messages earlier on the way back. Figured I'd wait to check it." Auron said and fished out his scroll.

"You waited? What if somethin' happened to Kathy?" Preacher asked.

"If somethin' was wrong, she'd be callin', not sendin' out a slow-ass message." Smoke told him.

"Good point." Preacher admitted.

Auron fished out his scroll and opened the messages. He saw two new messages at the top from headmasters Ozpin and Lionheart. He checked Lionheart's first, which told him that everything had been finalized and he is now an official student of Beacon. Then he checked the one from Ozpin.

"Alright, I got the details of my new team. Ozpin says they ain't gonna be like my last one."

"Who are they?" Smoke asked.

"Let's see… I got a guy named Jace Reznor. He's comin' from Atlas. Cat Faunus with both a tail an' the ears. Ain't heard o' that before."

"Reznor? I wonder why he's transferring," Emowyn said, hear ears dropping just a bit, "Me and Haile went on a mission awhile back and they took care of a wound I got."

"You mean you got hurt an' a regular Huntsman didn't?" Preacher asked, "What the hell happened?"

"Sometimes, my bow or my knives can't handle it," Emowyn said, "It was a pretty big pack of Alpha Beowulves that just charged up on us. Sometimes you just need a big axe and a shotgun."

"Damn right about that," Smoke said, "Who's the others?" He asked Auron.

"There's Alyssia Wystar too. She's from Shade an' she's a cat Faunus with ears. Those two are gonna get along pretty good," Auron grinned, "Then the last… Holy shit, Em! Wanna take a guess?"

"I wouldn't really know who… Wait, Raine!?" Emowyn said excitedly, "I remember she told me her team all transferred out, but I didn't think you'd be on the same team as her."

"Yep, I got your lil' sis on my team," Auron said with a grin, "So… I got three Faunus teammates now. That'll bring some racists I can knock the fuck out."

"Don't go gettin' into trouble," Preacher told him, "It ain't gonna do too well if you get expelled by beatin' the hell outta people who come after your team."

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll see."

"Okay, I'd say you should go as soon as you can," Emowyn said, "So maybe in a few days. It'll give you time to get packed and say your goodbyes."

Auron sighed. "Damn I hate goodbyes…"

"Plus it'll give me time to get you an airship ready to take you and your truck."

"You'd really get me one o' your Ranger airships?" Auron asked her.

"Your family are my friends. And my family helps our friends like family."

* * *

Auron sat on the porch the morning of his departure. He wore his usual clothing that doubled as his combat outfit. His black combat boots, faded amd worn blue-jeans that had a few cuts and holes in them, a closed dark-red button-up shirt, his dark-brown duster, and his brown cowboy hat.

Preacher, Kathy, and Smoke were out there with him, just spending a bit more time with him before he left. "Thanks for fixin' up that jerky, mom." Auron said quietly, fighting back tears. He really hated goodbyes.

 _"Fuck… this is actually happenin'…"_

"Well, it's so you won't have to make it yourself for awhile." Kathy said with a smile.

"I'll probably be makin' a lot of it in the future. Gotta get my new team to try it."

"An' have them houndin' Kat for it?" Preacher grinned.

"I can make it too, remember? I just friggin' said it."

"Yeah, but Kathy's is best."

"Oh bite me, it's the same. You're just tryin' to get outta chores when you're here."

"And he won't." Kathy assured him.

"Seriously? I'm a Ranger. I can't be doin' chores every time I'm here. Gotta keep on watch, y'know?" Preacher told her.

"You can keep doin' your chores or you ain't gettin' anymore jerky." Smoke told him.

"You really wanna torture me like that?" Preacher said in mock hurt, "I ain't done nothin' wrong!"

"Except for trying to get out of chores," Kathy grinned, "It's not happening."

"Fine…" Preacher grumbled, "Your cookin's too good to stay away from."

Auron's scroll buzzed and he checked the message. It was from Emowyn. He opened it and read it, then he sighed.

 _"The airship's ready. Say your goodbyes Auron."_

He took a deep breath and put his scroll up. "I guess it's time for me to go…"

He stood up slowly and the others followed. Kathy was the first to embrace him. "Bye Auron… Be safe and stay out of trouble. And watch your language."

Auron hugged back and he gave a teary grin. "I'll keep safe. I got a Ranger on my team, so I'll be okay."

"Good. You take care of them and you cook for them if you need to." Kathy said and stepped from him with tears in her eyes.

"I will," Auron said and Smoke came forward, "Think Ozpin'll be anything like that old headmaster at Shade?"

"Naw, I know he ain't. He's a good guy from what I heard," He gave Auron a strong hug, "You got this, son. Remember to keep your head straight too."

"As long as I ain't seein' any Geists, then I'll be good on that."

Smoke stepped away from him and Preacher was the last to hug him. "Good luck, kid. Go an' have some fun."

"That was my plan, Preach."

They separated and Auron wiped tears from his eyes. "See you guys later. I love ya."

"We love you too, dear," Kathy told him, "Keep in touch every once in a while."

"I will… Bye."

* * *

"You'll be meeting with Vivian Strife, one of the Rangers that look over the council and Beacon itself." Emowyn told Auron over their scrolls while he was near Vale.

"I'll be gettin' my truck to the storage lockups first before we go to Beacon. Then we can get to Ozpin's office."

"I'm sure it'll be a surprise for him to see you this early. And I think both your other teammates are getting there today too."

"Alright then. We're about landed, so I'm gonna let you go. Later, Em."

"Tell Raine I said hi."

They ended the call and Auron waited for the airship to touch down. When it did, he went to the cargo bay and entered his truck, setting his one-handed lever action claymore, _Last Call_ , into its rack on the roof above the front seats. He set his two double-barrel revolvers, _Smoke & Preacher_, into their holsters in the center console, then he drove his truck from from the airship. He saw a cat Faunus standing near the landing zone and he drove up to her.

"Hey, I take it you're Vivi?" Auron asked.

"I am. Good to meet you Auron," The tanned, golden-eyed, black and blue-haired Ranger greeted him with a deep, Menagerian accent, "Let's not waste any time. You still need to surprise Oz." She grinned and quickly got into the passenger side of the truck.

"Emowyn told me you watch over Beacon. Are the others there yet?" Auron asked her.

"Yeah, they are. This one saw Alyss arrive and she saw when Jace talked with Ozpin. You should have a great time getting to know them."

"I look forward to it. What can you tell me about Raine? Or do you know her well?"

"She is this one's best friend," Vivi said with a smile, "She's really great. Caring to her friends, vicious to who gets on her bad side, and she just has a _fire_ in her…"

"She's probably a hell of a fighter too considerin' Emowyn trained her." Auron remarked, pretending not to notice the slight blush on her cheeks and the way she talked.

"That she is." Vivi said, not even trying to suppress the wide smile.

"I can't wait to meet 'em all."

Vivi gave a nod. "You should know that Jace has an affinity for apples. You might be able to use that to your advantage."

"Apples huh? I'll keep it in mind."

* * *

"Mister Karmine? I am surprised to see you here this early. Please, have a seat." Ozpin greeted Auron.

"Thank you kindly," Auron said and sat himself down, "I got the Rangers to thank for lendin' an airship. Got me over here pretty fast."

 _"This is a damned impressive room,"_ Auron thought to himself as he looked around, _"Ain't like Lionheart's office… Hell, this guy went big with his."_

"I see that," Ozpin grinned, "Your teammates are all accounted for on campus. It is a shame your former team chose to abandon this cause."

"Yeah, I'm annoyed but I can't really blame 'em…" Auron sighed, "Last trainin' mission before the break, I had to carry 'em all back 'cause we nearly got killed by a Geist. Me, my dad, an' a couple Rangers went an' hunted it down a few days ago. I ain't afraid to admit it was one o' the scariest things I ever saw. I can't imagine they'd wanna keep goin' after barely survivin' against one."

"Yes, I could not blame them either. Those are only rare in Anima and unseen of on any other continent, so I believe you shouldn't have to face one again for a long time."

"That's a relief to hear."

Ozpin nodded. "I believe you should get going. I'm sure you would want a rest after your flight. Your room is on the third floor at the very end of the hall on the left. I want you all here tomorrow so we may discuss your team name and partners. Have a good day, mister Karmine."

"You too, sir." Auron said and stood up. He stepped into the elevator and rode it down with a grin on his face, hoping to meet his team and just sleep. Whichever order was fine with him. When the elevator stopped at the bottom, he exited it and left the building. He met back up with Vivi, who was watching over his trunk for him while he met with Ozpin.

"You shouldn't need me anymore," Vivi told him, "The dorm building is that one over there. Tell Raine this one said hi." She said and pointed him to the building.

Auron nodded and gave a yawn. "Thanks for the help. See ya around." He said and picked the trunk up to hold on his shoulder.

He walked on and eventually came to the entrance of the building. He entered and ascended the stairs tiredly. When he reached the third floor, he walked as fast as he could down the hall to get to his room sooner. When he stepped past a certain door, he froze.

"But Nora, don't you think Ren should have a rest for a day?"

 _"Is that…?"_

"He has made pancakes every day since you both have been back."

 _"Holy shit, that's her."_

Auron grinned at the familiar voice and set his trunk down. He faced the door and rapped on it a few times with his knuckles.

"I'll get it!" He heard another girl say, probably Nora.

The door opened after a moment and she stared up at his towering form. "Wow, you're tall." She said and looked up at him.

"Hey there. I'm lookin' for a Mistralian girl with long red hair, stands about this high," He put his hand up as high as his lower chest, "an' she wears a circlet on her head about like it's her lifesource. Got any idea who she might be?"

"Auron? Is that you?" He heard Pyrrha ask from the side of the room. She stepped into his view and he gave a grin and a wave. She smiled and rushed forward to greet him.

She wrapped him in a hug and he did the same. "It's good to see you again, Auron. How have you been?" She asked as they separated.

"Up an' down. My team dropped out after fightin' a Geist. Me, dad, Preacher an' a Ranger hunted that same Geist down an' I flew over today. You got a new classmate."

"I'm sorry to hear about your team, but I'm very glad we're in the same school now," Pyrrha smiled, then she turned to the others in the room, "This is my team. Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and our leader, Jaune Arc. Everyone, this is Auron Karmine."

"Good to meet you guys. Keepin' Pyr in line?" Auron asked them with a grin.

"Oh yeah, don't worry!" Nora grinned, "She hasn't caused any trouble."

"Good. Hey, they don't have ghost peppers in the cafeteria, do they?" He asked them all and Pyrrha groaned.

"Oh Oum…" Pyrrha sighed.

"I believe they have them sometimes." Ren answered.

"Good. Maybe Pyrrha can dare me to eat one again."

Jaune looked at her in shock. "You dared him to eat a ghost pepper? Those are like, one of the spiciest things ever!"

"I did and I still feel horrible," Pyrrha answered him, "I didn't know they were that bad until another student tried one and was put in the infirmary."

"An' I keep thankin' her," Auron laughed, "It got me to discover one o' my favorite things to eat."

"You actually eat ghost pepper?" Nora asked in wonder.

"Yep. I'm glad I took the dare back in Sanctum."

"What made you decide to come to Beacon?" Pyrrha asked him.

"New opportunities. Lionheart offered me after he heard about a new team bein' formed. I heard that Beacon's the best, so I figured I'd just take the offer an' switch over. Plus it saved Leo the trouble of findin' me a new team."

"Well allow me to be your second friend here!" Nora said to him, "Any friend of Pyrrha's is a friend of mine!"

"Thanks, Nora. Good to see some friendly faces."

"The same goes for us." Jaune grinned.

"I appreciate it," Auron gave a grin and yawned, "Oh man, I'm tired. I'm gonna get to my room now. Either sleep or talk to my new team. I ain't decided yet."

"Alright then. It was nice to see you Auron." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"You too, Pyr. See ya later."

Auron grabbed his trunk and walked down the hall for a few moments until he reached the end of the hallway. The walk was made worse when his right knee started hurting, making him limp. It was from an old injury from when he was a child.

 _"Really hope this ain't a problem in a fight."_

He sighed as he reached his door. He took out his scroll and unlocked it, then he opened it to quite the sight. The two cat Faunus of his new team were hugging each other tightly while who he assumed to be Raine watched from her seat at the table.

He looked at the cat Faunus and grinned. "I knew you two'd get along good!" He laughed.

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: And here is Auron. He might've gotten a short chapter, but that's only because not a lot happened with him and his past, unlike Jace and Alyss.**

 **Also, I'd like to hear what anyone thinks about the story. You don't have to leave a review, but it would be nice to hear some things from different people, good or bad.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	4. Chapter 4: Old to New

**Chapter Four**

 **Old to New**

 ** _Village of Calm: Halt and Nia Daturas' home_**.

"They're all transferring out?" Nia asked her daughter as the teen and her parents sat in their living room. She had graying almond-colored hair that reached her shoulder blades and her eyes were bright green. She was relatively short, around five feet and six inches. The only thing the dark-red haired girl received from her deer Faunus mother was her height, being two inches shorter.

"Yeah. They all said they just wanted to go to different schools, that Beacon wasn't for them," The teen answered with a sigh, "And Nika said she just wanted to be closer to home."

 _"Damn it… that's a horrible start to the semester…"_ She thought to herself.

"What's that mean for you, Raine?" Halt asked. His dark violet eyes looked to her curiously as his tail moved around, brushing against his mate's arm, making her deer ears twitch a bit at the contact.

"I really don't know right now. I know I'll be getting a new team, but that's gonna take awhile," Raine answered, "I might go back to Beacon sooner and hang out with Aulin for awhile. She's still there at least."

"That's fine. It was good to just have you back for a few days." Nia smiled.

"Yeah, it was nice to be here. Sad that Emowyn couldn't come back, but y'know. She kinda can't."

"I accepted that when you both decided to be Rangers." Nia said with a bit of sadness in her voice.

Raine's scroll buzzed in her pocket. She went to dig it out as she sighed again. She checked the message and saw it was from Ozpin. She tilted her head as her ears took on a look that signaled she was either curious or interested in something.

"What is it?" Halt asked her.

"Ozpin says… that he might already have a team ready."

"Already?" Nia asked, "Must be some weird things happening with everyone."

"Maybe. But if he's already got a new team ready, then that's really good. Saves a lot of time and trouble."

"Definitely," Halt agreed, "You never really connected with any of them, right?"

"Not really… I mean, they were nice but we had no chemistry in sparring or anything. I hope they can do well where they go."

* * *

"Hey mom, dad," Raine said as she entered the house a few days later from training with her longbow and rifle, _Amaranth_ and _Shagahod_ , "Ozpin sent me a message saying who the others are gonna be."

"That was quick. Ol' Oz still works fast." Halt remarked.

"Who are they?" Nia asked.

"Two cat Faunus. Alyssia Wystar and Jace Reznor. Jace is suppose to have cat ears and a tail. That's awesome, really. Just like Vivi," She said with a dopey smile.

"Jace Reznor…" Halt said more to himself than anything.

"The-um, the other one is Auron Karmine," Raine continued, "He's a human. So I'm on a team with two other Faunus."

"That's the boy that fought in those tournaments in Mistral, but he always won runner up against Pyrrha Nikos," Nia said thoughtfully, "If you have him on your team, you have another really good fighter."

"I just want to know his attitude about Faunus. Being put on a team with three if he's racist… that could be bad." Raine frowned.

 _"If that's the case… Oum, talk about tension…"_

"If something happens, the worst would most likely be heated words," Halt said, "But he's not like that. Emowyn's been working with the Karmines for awhile and she always told me good things about the boy."

"Really? That's good then." Raine said in relief.

"You always did have a huge problem with those types of people," Nia grinned, "You remember the boy a few years ago that tried pulling on your ears in Signal?"

Raine nodded, returning the grin. "Taught him not to mess with them."

"I don't think Qrow had any problems with it," Halt grinned, "The old bird probably laughed his ass off when he saw the kid hanging upside down in a tree."

"Yeah, but I did get put in detention for it. Worth it," Raine laughed, "I'm gonna go pack my things… I figured I'd leave tomorrow. Maybe my new team will get there soon."

 _"Gods I hope they do. I don't wanna have to meet them during classes._ "

"Alright," Halt said, "I guess it helps that an airship's gonna be here, right?"

"Right."

"Listen, Raine," Halt said, his expression changing to a more serious look, "There's a lot of things you need to know about Jace that you do _not_ tell anyone else. Understand?"

"What is it? What's wrong?" Raine asked.

"Do you understand me, Raine?" Halt asked again, "This is something Jace needs to tell anyone else on his own and you don't tell him you know."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"So you can understand it more in case he ever does tell you guys. I'm just gonna tell you the basics and leave the rest to him if he wants to say. Do you understand?" He asked one last time.

Raine nodded slowly. "I understand and I swear that I won't say anything."

"Alright… Do you know anything about what happened in Atlas nine years ago?"

* * *

"All of them just left?" Aulin asked in disbelief as they sat in Raine's dorm.

Aulin Sylvana was five feet and eight inches in height. Her eyes were a dark red color and her hair was faded purple, reaching her shoulders and parted more to the right. She regularly wore her combat outfit, considering it was extremely comfortable for her and it helped show off her body. She wore a midnight purple crop top that was tight against her ample chest, showing her flat stomach. She wore a belt over her upper stomach that was just under her breasts, seeming to push them up a bit more. She wore armstockings with rings connected to them, which was around her middle fingers. Each stocking was black and had silver vine-like designs on them, with silver metal guards around the top and bottom edges.

She wore a pair of extremely short, tan shorts with a loose belt around her waist. She had a dark-red half-skirt with gold edges over her left leg, reaching down to the middle of her thigh. She wore dark brown knee-length boots with hard metal on the heels and toes of them. She wore earrings that were orbs of purple connected to short chains on each of her ears. Lastly, she wore a type of red cloak that was connected to a red scarf and completely split down the middle, which usually left the two sides flapping in different directions. On the back of her top was her emblem in light-red, two serpents swirling around each other and coming face to face.

"Yep. They left," Raine answered her, "But, I'm already getting a new team."

"Already? Damn, you're lucky with that then." Aulin said with a grin.

"Yeah, and it's three-one with Faunus and humans in my new team. Three Faunus, one human. Two cat Faunus, one guy and girl, then a human guy."

"I'm sure that'll make the guy feel weird having three Faunus on his team," Aulin remarked, "And two cat Faunus, huh? They know each other?"

Raine shook her head. "Not that I know of. Alyss is from Vacuo and Jace is from Atlas, so I doubt it."

"I can only assume Alyss is the girl and Jace is the guy."

Raine rolled her eyes, suppressing a laugh. "Of course. I don't think there's any girl in the world who's named Jace."

"Hey, you never know."

"How's your team doing anyway?" Raine asked.

"Pretty good from what they all said. Bell texted me and told me she was on the way back from Mistral. Inu's still in Menagerie with his family, He should be back in a week. He said he's been helping around Hibana after a bad storm they had. He sent me the most adorable picture of his little sister yesterday."

"Really? What is it?" Raine asked with a grin.

Aulin brought out her scroll and quickly found the picture. She showed it to Raine and she almost squealed at the sight. The little silver-haired wolf Faunus girl was playing with a large ball at the time the picture was taken. All her limbs were wrapped around it and her tail was wrapped around her front as well. Both her yellow and green eyes were twinkling in joy.

"Oh Oum that is so cute!" Raine exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Aulin grinned.

"I really would like to go to Menagerie someday. At least to Kuo Kuana. I've heard it's so crowded though."

"I'm sure you could deal with it. It's just going skin to skin with hordes of people."

"Okay, when you put it like that, it sounds really bad."

"I'm sure Inu could tell you how it is if you ask him."

"I might do that. I think my grandpa said he might move there sometime, but I'm not sure."

"If he does, then you can go there for a reason instead of just being a tourist." Aulin said with a grin as her scroll buzzed. She checked the message and she saw it was from her other teammate, Barrett Akham.

"Oh shit…" Aulin said and covered her mouth with her free hand.

"What's wrong?" Raine asked.

"It's Barrett… He said his mom had a heart attack and she's in the hospital…"

"Oh Oum… Is she okay?"

"He said her condition is stable, but he's worried. He'll be back from Vacuo in a few days, but it's gonna be rough for him."

"No doubt…" Raine sighed, "I hope everything's gonna be alright."

"Same here." Aulin agreed.

* * *

 ** _Two weeks late_ r**

"Really? Two should be here today?" Raine asked excitedly as Ozpin told her two members of her new team would arrive at Beacon.

 _"Awesome! I hope things'll be alright,"_ Raine thought, _"They're coming from different teams. Hopefully it was nothing bad."_

"Yes, the first will be miss Wystar I believe. Her mother called yesterday evening and told me they were on their way by airship. I just wanted to let you know and be prepared." Ozpin said and left the her dorm room.

Raine closed the door behind him and smiled. "Looks like I get to meet a cat Faunus today." She said and went to find a nice outfit for the occasion. She found green cargo pants and a black t-shirt to throw on and she just sat around the room for awhile, just waiting for the new girl to arrive.

 _"I'm actually getting a new team…"_

"So, your old team was all okay with your nature?" Raine asked Alyss with a smile as they ate their food in the cafeteria.

Alyss nodded. "Yeah. I was really nervous when I told them all, but they accepted it and they liked it. I didn't ask, but they started scritching my ears after awhile.

"Really?" Raine asked and Alyss nodded nervously. Raine gave a soft smile, "I wouldn't mind doing that for you. My best friend loves it when I scritch her ears."

"Really? You'd wanna do that for me?" Alyss asked with a wide smile.

Raine nodded. "If you wanna let your inner cat out and be adorable with it, then who am I to judge?"

"Thank you… I'm really glad to hear it.

The two finished their food and made their way back to their room. Alyss had a wide smile on her face and Raine grinned at seeing it. _"She's really friendly… I'm glad. I hope the other two are too."_ She thought to herself,

"And you don't mind the random pounces either?" Alyss asked her.

"Pfft. Just try it. Ranger training made just made my natural senses better. Good luck." Raine grinned.

Alyss gave a short giggle. "I'll take that challenge."

The two eventually made it back to their dorm room and stopped outside. Raine unlocked the door with her scroll and opened the door to see the cat Faunus from before, sitting down at the table.

 _"Guess that means he's our teammate,"_ Raine thought, _"So this is Jace… The one that was experimented on… He doesn't look bad at all like he was infused with dust. I thought any that tried got crystallized."_

He had a huge sword sitting next to him leaning against the table that had a large magazine in it. She didn't flinch at seeing the horrible burns on his arm, but her eyes went to his tail. It was true, he did have both traits of a cat Faunus.

"Oh, hello!" Raine greeted him, "I guess you're Jace Reznor?"

"I am. Nice to meet you." Jace greeted back.

"I'm Raine Daturas."

"I-I'm Alyss Wystar." Alyss greeted nervously.

Jace sighed as his ears pressed down onto his skull. "Sorry about my arm… If it's too bad to look at, I was about to wrap it back up anyway…"

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Alyss exclaimed and stopped staring as her own ears mirrored his, "I didn't mean to stare. It just surprised me…"

"It's alright I guess… I should've expected someone to."

"Hey, how about we just sit down and talk for a bit?" Raine suggested. She didn't want anything strained between them on the first day they met.

"Y-yeah, sure." Alyss said an she went to sit down at the table across from Jace.

Raine went to sit down next to him and she propped her elbows up on the table. "So, you're from Atlas, right?" She asked Jace.

He nodded. "Yeah, I am. And you're already from here?" He asked in return and Raine nodded. He turned to Alyss and saw her eyes were cast down, "And you're from Vacuo, right Alyss?"

"Yeah…" She answered lowly.

"Hey, if you're grossed out about my arm, you can say it… Hell, I am too." He said in a soft voice.

"That's not it…" Alyss sighed, "I know I shouldn't have stared… It's really rude to."

"It's okay," He assured her, "I can't stop myself from staring at it most of the time."

"What even happened?" Raine asked him, "If you don't mind me asking."

"I was practicing with burn dust and I wasn't paying attention to my aura. It just really messed it up. Good thing there was a lot of snow to put the fire out." He let out a short, sad chuckle.

"So… what made you want to come to Beacon?" Raine asked.

"Two of my teammates were pieces of shit, if you don't mind my language," He answered her with a deep frown, "My adoptive brother was on the same team and they were just trying to bully him about his childhood too. What crossed the line with me was when one of them grabbed and pulled my tail. Then he said, ' _What? Little pussy can't take a joke?'_ Oum I hate him."

"One of them grabbed your tail!? Seriously!?" Raine asked incredulously, a look of disgust on her face.

"It really hurt, but my brother broke his nose to get him to stop. He's lucky I didn't get a hold of him or it would've been worse for him."

"What an asshole…" Raine shook her head, "Last time someone tried grabbing my ears, I knocked him out and hung him upside down in a tree at Signal."

"What about you, Alyss? What made you wanna transfer?" Jace asked the other cat Faunus.

"I…" She shook her head, "I'll tell you when everything settles down with our team… okay?" She said to him, "It's just really personal and I don't wanna have to keep saying it…"

"Okay, that's alright. Just when your ready." He said to her.

Jace picked his apple back up that he was eating and took a large bite from it as he _hummed_. "Anyone want an apple? I have plenty."

"You have apples?" Alyss asked, "I guess they're in the sack?"

"Yep. Grab one if you want one. I don't mind."

Alyss nodded and reached across to pull an apple from the bag. She smiled toward Jace and took a bite of it. Raine reached over and got an apple as well and they all just ate around on them for a few moments.

"Thanks," Alyss said to him, "I take it you really like them to have a huge bag of them."

Jace nodded quickly. "I really do. It's up there with fish on my list of favorite things to eat. Takes me back to when my dad adopted me. He gave me one when he brought me home and I've just loved them since."

"Is your dad a Faunus too?" Alyss asked.

"No, he's human. It really surprised me when he offered. But gods I'm glad. Everything was okay after that."

"I'm surprised a human actually adopted a Faunus kid," Raine said lightly, "I don't mean anything bad by it, but you know how most Atlesians are."

"Yeah, definitely. My tail knows that pretty damn well. Before me, he took in my adoptive brother off the streets too."

"Off the streets?" Alyss echoed and tilted her was a bit.

"Yeah… My old parents were… abusive," Jace sighed, "Then… they just left me on the streets. I don't know why, but I cried for them to come back," He took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes, "I was on the streets for a year at seven, eight years old. Then Gen… His parents were killed… when all the heating pipes in their home exploded… He was the only survivor and dad found him on the street a few months before me. None of us know who had it worse…"

"His parents were killed and yours were abusive…?" Alyss asked quietly.

"Yeah…"

Alyss stood from her seat and walked around the table. She leaned over and hugged Jace softy. "I'm sorry you both had that happen to you. It sounds horrible."

Jace nodded and hesitated a bit before he returned the hug. "It was… Just… a lot happened to both of us but Haile, our dad, found us. After that… like I said… everything was alright."

Alyss released Jace and she sat back down. Raine looked at Jace and placed her hand on his shoulder. "At least you both were taken in. That's more than what a lot of kids get, y'know?" She stated lightly, "My friend Aulin is an orphan. She never got to go to a good home, she's here because she got a special grant from the council to go to be a Huntress. And her teammate Bell is one too, and she was raised by the church in Mistral."

Jace nodded. "I understand that I didn't have the worst time. It's just different for everyone, but hey. We're here today, right? We made it through whatever hell our childhoods threw at us and we made it."

Raine gave a smile. _"I'm glad he doesn't think he's had the worst… He has a good head on his shoulders. But he might have had the worst..."_

"Yeah, you're right. You, your brother, Aulin, Bell. You're all here and doing what you want."

"Yeah… we are."

"Umm…" Alyss started quietly, "Where did you get the apples?" She asked, "They're really good and juicy."

Jace smiled. "I think we needed a topic change," He laughed, "I bought them from a Faunus on the way here. Her name was Caitlyn and she had her son with her. Two dog Faunus. I bought twenty for five lien. She said I can have that much since I'm new here and I'm a Huntsman-in-training."

"I wonder how they grow these to get them so juicy. I've never had one like it."

"I don't know, but that's where a lot of my lien is gonna go." Jace said with a grin.

Raine smiled at seeing the interactions between the two. _"Kind of a shaky start… but everyone's getting along."_

"Caitlyn Reigns, right?" Raine asked Jace and he nodded, "She doesn't grow them. She has a deal with some people in a village called Calm and they send a shipment of fruits over to her, and then she sells them. She gets half profit from it."

"How do you know?" Jace asked.

"Because she's a family friend. Plus, Calm is my home. Her mate comes by from time to time when he's out on missions." Raine answered.

"Where's Calm at?" Alyss asked.

"It's down on the southwest edge of Sanus. Right on the border between Vale and Vacuo, but in Vale."

"That far away?" Jace asked in disbelief, "How do they get it here?"

"Usually by a caravan of either trucks or big carts pulled by horses. Whichever's cheaper. By trucks, it usually takes four weeks depending on weather. By wagons… maybe two months."

"But why send the fruits so far?"

"Because the soil around there is so rich and fertile," Raine explained, "It's one of the most fortified villages on Remnant. Pretty big, too. It's got big walls and a lot of Huntsmen live there and defend it, including a Ranger. And it's pretty quiet, despite its size. It's like Patch, almost everyone knows each other. Me, dad, and mom live a little ways outside of it in a cabin. Close enough so Grimm won't bother us and far enough where we're pretty alone. Then dad helps out when he's needed. And when me and my sister are there, we help when we're needed..."

"People from Vacuo and Vale and even Mistral and Atlas order fruits from there when the farmers can provide them. It's actually close to harvest season. For stuff to Vale and Vacuo, it's by what I said. Then for Mistral and Atlas, it gets taken by airship to a port town, then it goes by ship the rest of the way and it's taken to villages from there. They pay more since it's so far away and that's how the farmers can keep sending stuff out."

"Damn… all of that from one village?" Jace said in awe, "I love it already because these apples are just awesome."

"Thanks," Raine laughed, "When they give missions out in maybe a month and if there's one available there, we should go."

"I'm in," Jace agreed immediately, "I'll probably come back with another couple bags full of apples."

"Jace, I need to know something…" Alyss said and Jace looked at her curiously.

"What is it?" He asked.

"How do you feel about scritches?"

"I really like them. It feels like heaven in all honesty." He answered with a grin.

"Okay… So, would you mind scritching mine every so often?"

"Sure. I wouldn't mind. Just be sure to do the same with me." Jace grinned as his ears twitched.

"That was easier than I thought," Alyss remarked with a smile, "How about pounces?"

"Pounces?"

"Yeah. I have a playful nature, so I get the urge to just pounce randomly. Is that okay?"

Jace nodded. "Not gonna lie, that's an adorable thought."

Alyss blushed at that and she smiled. "Thank you."

"So, both of you are just kittens?" Raine asked with a grin.

"I basically am. Mom always said it." Alyss answered for herself.

"I mean, I guess so. I just really like scritches. I'm not really a pouncy Faunus." Jace said.

"I have a feeling this is gonna be a fun time." Raine said and let out a laugh.

"I really hope so." Alyss said. She let her eyes fall back to Jace's arm and she _hummed_. The others looked at her and saw where her eyes were going.

"Oh shit, I need to put some ointment on this and wrap it back up." Jace said and reached into his bag to pull out the ointment and bandages.

"Jace, hang on before you do that…" Alyss told him.

He looked at her in confusion. "Why?"

"Here, hold out your arm to me." She requested and he did as she asked, nervous about it.

 _"What are you doing?"_ Raine wondered in her head.

She looked on in curiosity as Alyss stood from her seat and stepped around the table. She put her hands softly onto Jace's arm and she started _humming_ softly as her hands glowed purple.

"Alyss… what are you doing?" Jace asked as he stared at her, "This is… this…" He gasped as his eyes went wide, "Are you…?"

"This is my semblance… I can tell you didn't want to stare at this every day, so I'm helping. My semblance lets me heal injuries and scars. I can also tell that you don't want other people to see it… So now, no one will ever know and you don't have to see it anymore."

Raine looked at his arm and was shocked when the burn scars started to vanish from his skin. She looked to his face and saw tears in his eyes.

 _"Holy shit… Talk about a surprise…"_

After a few more moments, Alyss had fully healed Jace's arm. She didn't get the chance to sit down when Jace quickly stood and wrapped her in a hug.

"Th-thank you, Alyss! Thank you so much!" He said to her as tears came from his eyes, "Thank you for making it normal again… I really didn't want to see it anymore… It just made me feel sick to look at… Oh Oum, Alyss, I don't know how to pay you back…"

Alyss hugged back and smiled. "You don't have to pay me back with anything. I promised my mom I'd help whoever I can with my semblance and I just wanted to help my new teammate."

The door opened to the room and a large teen stepped in with black hair and he wore an outfit that made him look like he was straight out of an old pre-war movie. He had a one-handed claymore on his back and large revolvers on his hips.

He looked at Jace and Alyss and grinned. "I knew you two'd get along good!" He laughed.

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: With that, there's everyone introduced to this story, plus the introduction of Aulin. In this one, those two are basically best friends. After this chapter, it's time for the story to really begin.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Familiar Team

**Chapter Five**

 **A Familiar Team**

"And you're Auron Karmine, Right?" Raine asked the large teen.

"Yep, that's me," Auron said and set his trunk down next to the door, "Good to meet y'all."

Alyss and Jace separated from each other and looked to him. Jace had tears in his eyes. "You too, Auron. I'm Jace Reznor."

"I'm Alyss Wystar." Alyss greeted.

"And I'm Raine Daturas." Raine greeted.

"So, what exactly has you cryin, Jace?" Auron asked lightly, "If you don't care for me askin'."

"Well…" Jace brought his right arm up and stared at it, "My arm was burned really bad… and Alyss used her semblance to heal it for me… I don't have to see it anymore."

"Really? You got a healin' semblance?" Auron asked Alyss and she nodded, "That's really cool."

"Thanks…" Alyss said, "If any of you ever have any problems, don't hesitate to ask me to help. I'll never mind."

 _"I'm glad I got my nervousness out of the way and did that for Jace… No one deserves to be hurt like that."_ Alyss thought to herself.

"I appreciate the offer," Auron said with a smile, "If somethin' comes up, I'll ask."

"Same here." Raine said.

"Hey Raine," Auron got the shorter girl's attention, "Vivi an' Emowyn said hey."

"You know Vivi?" Raine asked, "Dad told me Emowyn worked with you guys, but how do you know Vivi?"

"She helped me here," Auron answered her, "Y'know, you look a lot like your sister, honestly. You're just…"

"Shorter, I know." Raine grinned.

"Yeah, a lot shorter."

"A few inches shorter." Raine countered.

"Let's all just sit back down," Jace said, "We all have a lot to talk about."

"Yep, an' I think I got some catchin' up to do." Auron said and they all sat down around the table.

"Since we're all tired, let's just do small talk." Alyss suggested. _"I want to tell them… They need to know in case he comes after me and mom but… I just don't know if I can…"_

"That works for me," Auron agreed, "Let's see… I can cook, so I'll start with that."

"That'll be awesome for when we need it." Raine said with a grin.

"Yep. Mom made it a point to teach me how. I'm glad she did."

"So, who all designates Auron as team cook?" Jace asked with a laugh and everyone agreed.

"And I guess my fate is sealed," Auron laughed, "Ain't even been here five minutes."

"I'm an apprentice Ranger," Raine told them all, "I know you know that," She said to Auron, "And I'm sure you both know about us," She said to both Jace and Alyss, "We're the _Silent Huntsmen_."

"Except for one real loud one." Auron remarked, drawing a laugh from Raine.

"Who would that be? "Alyss asked.

"My uncle, Preacher. He's loud as he can be when he's not takin' a mission." Auron answered her.

"Okay, what's your weapon?" Jace asked Raine.

"I use three," Raine answered him. She stood from her chair and walked around the table to her bed. She knelt down and reached under it to pull out two large cases. She put them both on her bed and opened them up. The first she showed them was her bow.

"This is _Amaranth_. It was a gift from my sister a couple years ago." She told them. The shortbow had multiple lines of green runes that looked like vines of plants. She also took out her quiver of arrows and put it on the table. She showed it off, then she put her aura through it, making the bow extend into its longbow form with its two limbs, one small one for the gripping point and one long one for the power.

"That shit gets longer?" Auron asked.

"Oh yeah it does," Raine grinned, "Not even Emowyn's is like this. She made it specially for me."

"And you use actual arrows?" Jace asked as he looked over one of the black-wood arrows.

"Yeah, same with my family. My dad, sister, uncle, and my grandpa did before he retired from being a Ranger. We make them ourselves too. The shortbow form is really only for easier transporting and carrying, but I can use the arrows with it too. They're best with the longbow form though."

"That's really cool that you do that," Alyss said, "That's not something a lot of people do for their own weapons."

"Oh! I remember your sister now," Jace said, "Dad took care of her at our house when she got injured during that mission."

"She told me that sometimes you just need a big axe an' a shotgun for a mission." Auron laughed.

"But for us, a knife and a bow are more than enough most of the time," Raine said with a smaller grin, "Just not when you're against a big pack of Alphas that come outta nowhere."

She put her bow back in its case after shortening its form again and she closed it up with her arrows. Then she turned to the larger case. "And this… This is my baby," She said and opened the case, revealing a large caliber rifle and an almost straight-bladed katana. She took them both out and sent the blade into the back of the rifle, the hilt turning into a stock. There was a pendant of a blue cat hanging from it.

"This is _Shagahod_. I made her myself a little while after Em gave me _Amaranth_. I've wanted to make it for awhile, but training wouldn't really let me. Then dad told me I had to make my own weapon to be in the Rangers. When I finally made it… I went big."

"That _is_ a pretty big gun," Alyss said, "And you have a cute little pendant too."

"Thanks," Raine smiled, "Vivi gave it to me. She's a cat Faunus and she has both ears and a tail, like Jace."

"Another Faunus like me? Hell yeah, I need to meet her." Jace laughed.

"I didn't see a tail on her when I met her." Auron said in confusion.

"That's because she usually keeps it wrapped around her waist," Raine answered him, "She's kinda paranoid about it after a fight against some White Fang soldiers a little while ago. They hurt her arm pretty bad too."

"It's like me keeping mine around my waist because of some assholes that can't keep their hands to themselves." Jace said with a sigh.

"Yeah, that's the risk you always have when you have a tail," Raine said, "Anyway, my rifle has an inner barrel made of bolt dust. I can charge it with my aura and it turns it basically turns into a kind of railgun. It makes the shots faster and they go further and hit harder. The ports on the side are for the powerful recoil it has. And because of my semblance, I don't need a scope."

"Oh yeah, Em told me about that," Auron said to her, "Magnification. Your eyes replace any scope or pair o' binoculars basically."

"Yep, you got it," Raine said, "It's helpful and I don't have to worry about sighting in a scope or cleaning it. Now, who's next on playing show and tell?"

"I'll go," Jace offered and reached over to grab his sword, "Let's see… this is my artillery claymore. I called it _Legacy_."

"An artillery claymore huh?" Raine raised an eyebrow at the new weapon category, "Never heard of those types of weapons."

"That's because I'm pretty sure this is the only one ever made," Jace grinned as he took the large magazine out of its receiver, "I figured I'd need something to make a big impact with my semblance, so I made this."

"What's your semblance?" Alyss asked him.

"Oh get ready for a shock," Jace said and stood from his seat. He leaned his sword against the table and activated his semblance.

The others saw his body grow larger as his muscles bulged and his clothes stretched. Then, a few moments later, two large silver wings grew from his back below his shoulder blades. The sight left them all shocked, just as Jace said.

"Holy fuck!" Auron exclaimed while the other two held their composure to just making large 'O's with their mouths.

"Told you." Jace grinned.

"Well… oh Oum that's completely new," Raine said, "That's more shocking than Alyss being able to heal people."

"So, that's it for me," Jace laughed and deactivated his semblance, "Who's next?"

"Here's my weapon," Alyss said and grabbed her glaive from where it was leaning against the table, "It's name is _Soul Leaf_. It can transform into a submachine gun," She said and demonstrated it. The weapon completely changed forms and she laid it on the table in front of her, "That's really all there is to it."

"I got a lever-action claymore called _Last Call_ ," Auron said and grabbed his sword. He transformed it to its rifle form and showed it off to them, "Lever acts as the handguard when it's a claymore. It's got a burn dust barrel, so I can use that for some two-element shots. Then there's my revolvers," He set his rifle on the table and pulled his revolvers from their holsters, "These two are _Smoke & Preacher_. I named 'em for the two that trained me. My dad an' uncle. Double barrel an' they each hold twelve shots. Got two triggers an' hammers to 'em so I can blast both barrels of one into somethin',"

"My semblance is dust metal. I can send my aura through the ground an' bring up walls or pillars or chairs of dust metal. That's it, really." Auron finished and sat down.

"All three of you have huge weapons," Alyss gave a grin, "Mine's like a toothpick and a pea shooter."

"Hey, sometimes a pea shooter and a toothpick can do the job," Raine laughed, "If you listen to professor Port's stories."

Jace reached into his bag and pulled out an apple. He took a large bite of it and _hummed_ in pleasure. "I guess you should know that I fucking love apples." He told Auron.

"Yeah, Vivi told me."

"How would she know?" Jace asked in confusion.

Raine grinned. "Because it's a Ranger's job to know things."

"That's... honestly pretty scary." Jace remarked and took another bite of his apple.

"What is that, your fourth or fifth one already?" Raine asked him.

"Fourth. By this rate, it'll be close to ten before I go to sleep." Jace replied.

Alyss took a deep breath and looked to Auron. _"I have to tell him about this sooner or later…"_

"I need to let you know about my nature."

"Your nature?" He asked her.

"Yeah… I have a playful nature. That means I really like scritches and I like to pounce on people randomly when I feel comfortable around them. How do you feel about that?"

Auron bit his lip at the question. "I don't mind the pouncin' part, really. I look like a wall compared to you," He grinned and she giggled a bit, "But the scritchin'… I doubt I'll do that. I mean, I don't mind that you wanna let that out, but I don't feel comfortable doin' it myself. You're a person an' I don't feel that good with the thought of pettin' a person."

Alyss nodded. "Okay, I can understand that. How do you feel about two teammates that purr?"

"Got no problems. Might be relaxin' to hear, honestly."

"Good thing we got that cleared up," Jace said, "Now you won't be asking _'Holy shit, why are you purring?_ '"

They shared a laugh for a moment before Auron yawned loudly. "Damn, I'm really tired."

"So am I. It got pretty late." Jace said.

"We can talk more tomorrow. Let's all just go to sleep." Alyss said.

"Ozpin said he wants us in his office tomorrow," Auron told them all, "We got to get the team name, leader, an' partners figured out."

"We can cross that bridge when we get to it," Jace yawned, "Let's just sleep."

* * *

"Hello everyone. I trust you all found your room easily." Ozpin said to the four of them and they all nodded.

"Yes sir." They all said.

"Very good. Now, the first we will discuss is partners. It will be mister Reznor and miss Daturas, then mister Karmine and miss Wystar. Are there any objections?" He asked and everyone shook their heads.

"Now comes your leader and your team name. You will be called team Jackdaw and your leader is mister Reznor."

"You're making me the leader?" Jace asked in shock.

"I am. I believe that role will fit you well," Ozpin told him, "The second semester is going to start in another two weeks. You should be getting prepared for class."

"We will… thank you sir." Jace said to him.

Ozpin nodded. "You four may be dismissed. Have a good day."

Team JKDW left the office and rode down the elevator in silence. When they left the tower, Jace let out a loud sigh. "Holy shit… Why did he make me leader? We have a damn Ranger…"

"I don't mind not being leader," Raine told him, "I'm not really the leading type."

"Neither am I." Alyss said.

 _"I'll do it today… I'm not keeping it bottled to myself like I tried with the others…"_

"Or me, really," Auron said, "I'm more the type where you tell me to hit somethin', I'll hit it. Dad says I got a voice for it though."

"I'm not either though…" Jace said.

"I'm sure he has a reason for it. You just have to get used to it I guess." Raine told him.

"Probably… It's just weird to think of myself as a leader."

After a little while of walking, they arrived back to their room. They each sat around the table in silence for a few moments while they thought about the tournament.

Alyss' mind cleared of that thought as she looked around at her team. "I… I'm gonna tell you guys why I transferred."

"Are you sure you're ready?" Raine asked, "You said it was really personal."

"Yeah… you guys should know."

"Okay, just take your time." Jace told her.

 _"Okay… here it goes…"_

Alyss nodded and took a deep breath. "Me and mom… we just didn't feel safe," She started quietly, "When I was a kid, my father started being abusive to us both. He almost cut my ears off because I was friendly with human children. When he did that, mom stabbed through his hand with _Soul Leaf_ and told him to leave, and he did… at least for awhile…"

"Recently, mom started getting letters at our doorstep. They said different things… like _disgrace_ and _shame_ and _disgust_ … Then he showed up again. H-he broke into our house a-and he almost killed us both before the police got there from the alarm. He ran off and the police haven't been able to find him… M-mom and the police decided that it wasn't safe for us there anymore with him out there. S-so… we moved to Vale and I transferred here."

"Oum… All of that happened to you?" Auron asked her and she nodded slowly.

"He almost… took your ears?" Jace asked, his own ears flattening against his skull at the horrifying thought.

"Y-yeah…" Alyss shuddered as she started breathing rapidly, tears falling from her eyes, "H-he was standing over her… There was the table, just completely broken and mom was just laying there… she had cuts all over her from the wood and glass… Then I-I felt the knife bite into my ear and it was just… Th-there was so much blood…"

"Alyss, it's okay!" Raine tried to assure her, but she kept shaking her head.

"I couldn't do anything… We fought and he broke my aura s-so easily… I couldn't protect myself and I couldn't protect mom…" Alyss clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, "What if he comes here? Wh-what if we have to move again because we're so damn afraid of him? Because I can't do anything again? What if-"

"Alyss, please calm down!" Jace pleaded and jumped from his seat. It fell over onto the carpeted floor with a muffled _thud_ and Jace went around the table to wrap her in a tight hug as he knelt down to her level, "Listen, you've dealt with all of that and you're both still here. Both you and your mom. You're both okay. If you're still here… then that means you're strong."

"But what if he comes back again?"

"Then I'm not letting him hurt my teammate," Jace reached his hand up to scritch her ears, " _Don't stare too long into the sun that you forget the rest of the sky_. Don't focus on him. Just focus on everything in front and around you. He's in the past..." He gave a sigh as his eyes started tearing up, "I might've just met you yesterday, but I don't want to lose this. After dealing with those two in Atlas… I am _not_ losing this."

Alyss started _purring_ and hugged back. Raine and Auron wrapped their arms around them as well. "I… Thanks…" Alyss said quietly as her breathing slowed.

"Jace is right," Raine said and joined in rubbing her ears, "We're a team now. All of us. You trusted us when you told us that, and I appreciate it. If the worst happens and he comes here, then we have your back."

"He'll have a tough time tryin' to get past us. I'll box 'im up with my semblance if he shows his face." Auron said.

Jace gave a sigh as he hugged her a bit tighter. "I know what it feels like… Worrying if someone was just gonna come back to hurt me or take me away… It's a horrible feeling."

"H-how… how do you know what it feels like?" Alyss asked lightly.

Jace's body tensed up at the question and he shook his head quickly. "N-no… I-I don't think I'm ready to talk with you guys about that yet… S-sorry…"

"I-I think that's okay…" Alyss said, "We already had one really personal talk today… I don't wanna have another."

"We all just need to calm down a bit. Maybe go to the cafeteria an' get some food." Auron suggested.

"That would be good. You guys need to meet my friends." Raine said.

They all separated and returned to their seats. They decided to wait for a bit before they headed to the cafeteria.

 _"Jace… he was the first to scritch my ears and hug me like that here… I don't think he even hesitated… It took Raine a minute to do it too…"_ Alyss thought as she looked to him, _"It took awhile for Sapphire and the others to rub them. But he just did it the day after we met… Is that just because he's a cat Faunus like me? Well… I did kinda ask about it this time… But… I asked Raine and she didn't do it as fast…"_

Jace glanced at Alyss and saw her eyes were on him. "You okay after that?" He asked her.

She blushed a bit and nodded. "Y-yeah. Thanks. Did you… Did you know that scritching my ears would help me calm down like that?"

Jace shook his head. "It helps me too, so I just went by that."

"Thanks. It gives me comfort."

"Good. We have something in common." Jace said with a smile, the sight making Alyss' heart flutter a bit.

 _"Huh… that's weird…"_

Alyss shyly smiled back at him. Jace turned to Raine and decided it would be good to change the subject.

"Who are your friends, anyway?" He asked the diminutive apprentice.

"Team Silver. There's Aulin Sylvana, the one I told you is an orphan. Then there's Inuvali Lirra, Bell Vonas, and Barrett Akham." Raine answered him and sent a message to them, asking them to meet her in the cafeteria.

"Wait, Silver?" Alyss echoed as she set aside the thought from before, "Wouldn't it be silva instead since Barrett doesn't have an R at the start of his first or last name?"

Raine shook her head. "It might be spelled silva, like S-L-V-A, but it's pronounced Silver. It's weird and confusing at first, but it works."

"That makes sense, I guess." Auron said.

"So, it's Silver?" Alyss asked to make sure. Raine nodded and she smiled, "I can't wait to meet them."

Raine's scroll buzzed and she checked the message she received. "Well, let's go see them. Oh, and don't mind Barrett, please."

"Why?" Jace asked as his ears flattened against his skull.

"He's been out of it since he's been back from Vacuo. His mom had a heart attack and he hasn't been able to think too straight." Raine answered him.

"Oh… I kinda thought you meant he wouldn't be… you know…" Jace sighed, "That sucks to hear."

"I hope he can work through it," Alyss said, "I wouldn't know what I'd think if something like that happened to mom..."

"He's actually been thinking about getting transferred over so he can be closer in case they need him. Just don't mind him if he seems distracted." Raine told them all.

"I take it he _is_ friendly with Faunus?" Auron asked her.

"Yeah, he is. There's a Faunus on their team. Inu," Raine answered him, "He's a wolf Faunus. And Bell has real sensitive hearing like a Faunus, but she's not. They're actually our neighbors next door."

"So, can we go meet them now?" Jace asked with a grin.

"Yeah. Let's go."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: There's something I forgot to say about Alyss. Since she started out in a team before, she already grew into her playful nature a bit. Just wanted to say that. I'll be talking less at the end of the chapters from now on, only every few.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	6. Chapter 6: New Faces

**Chapter Six**

 **New Faces**

"What are your friends like?" Alyss asked Raine as they walked toward the cafeteria, on the way to meet team SLVA.

"Well, Aulin's kinda brash. She'll honestly try to hit on one or all of you." Raine warned them.

"Really? Even me?" Alyss asked and Raine nodded, "Well… I don't know what to think about that."

"Don't worry. If she sees you're uncomfortable with it, she'll stop."

"Reminds me of my old teammate, Heath." Alyss gave a sad smile.

 _"Hopefully she isn't completely focused on her damn looks…"_ Jace thought and shook his head, _"Why do I care? I guess it just annoys me because of Liza…"_

"And Inu's the quiet type. He might keep his words pretty simple until he knows you better. Especially you, Auron," Raine shrugged and gave an apologetic look, "He's from Menagerie and there's barely any humans there, y'know? Worse, he's from Hibana and there are no humans there at all."

Auron nodded. "I don't mind it. Hell, a lot o' people hesitated to talk to me because o' my size."

"Just wanted to let you know in case he doesn't really talk to you. He was the same way with Barrett, Bell, and Aulin," Raine said, "Bell is shy and nervous around new people, anyone really because of what happened to her as a kid. She was abandoned and then she was raised in a church in Mistral. She probably won't show it too much, but she's pretty religious. And Barrett is just pretty calm about most things." Raine described them all to them.

"They don't mind meeting us do they?" Jace asked.

 _"Hopefully I didn't get on Yang's bad side with that meeting… She said it was alright, but she just looked annoyed."_

"No, they're all excited to meet their new neighbors."

"Before we get there, I need to call my old team," Alyss said to them all, "I told them I would when I got to Vale but I was really tired."

"That's alright. Gotta keep in touch, right?" Auron gave a grin, "I need to call mom sometime too."

"Yeah, go ahead and call them," Jace told Alyss, "Let them all know you have another purring cat Faunus on your team."

"I don't mind either," Raine said, "We still have a little bit to walk."

Alyss nodded and brought out her scroll. She quickly found her former leader's number and called. It took less than two seconds for an answer to come.

"Aly!" Sapphire called out.

"Hi Saph!" Alyss greeted back, "How's things in Shade?"

"Quiet, kinda. It's different without any purring."

"I don't guess scritching Zack's ears does the same, does it?"

"No, but it feels awesome anyway!" Zack called.

"I have this set to speaker so we can all talk." Sapphire said.

"Good. I'll do the same. Hi Zack! Hi Heath!"

"Heya Kitty Cat!" Heath called back in a cheerful voice.

"Hi Alyss." Zack greeted her, closer to the scroll than Heath.

"So, has Blaine found you a new teammate yet?" Alyss asked them.

"No, not yet. She's still gonna let us go to Beacon for the festival though." Sapphire answered her.

"So I can see you guys soon?" Alyss asked in excitement.

"Yeah! Just a few more weeks and we can hang out!" Heath said in excitement, "We can meet your new team too!"

"I think you guys will like them. And they all said they don't mind my nature! You don't know how big of a relief that is!"

"That's awesome! I guess they're making it feel like home, huh?" Sapphire said.

"They really are and it's only been a day. And Jace says he purrs too!" Alyss whisper-yelled.

"Has he done it yet? Does he like scritches like you do?"

"To answer both questions," Jace said in amusement, "I haven't purred yet, and I freaking love scritches."

 _"Okay, I like these people. They're nice. That's a lot more friendly people I've met in the past two days than I've ever met in Atlas."_

"You two need to have scritching sessions. I mean really, just image it." Heath told them.

That almost made Jace's mind go blank.

"Honestly… I'm not opposed to the idea." Jace said quietly.

 _"Wait, what? Why did I say that?"_

"See Alyss! He's into it!"

"Zip it, Heath," Alyss said as her cheeks tinted red, "You're not influencing this."

"But-"

"Heath, come on," Zack cut in, "Quit pushing. We still haven't heard the other two people in your team." He said to Alyss.

"Right!" Alyss said, hoping to change the subject quickly, "Raine, Auron, introduce yourselves."

Jace was still thinking to himself about what he had said. _"Why…? I mean, yeah, the scritching would be awesome and god damn her purrs earlier were adorable… So much softer than when I do... Made me not care why I transferred over…"_

"Wouldn't it be better to introduce ourselves if we could see each other?" Auron asked Alyss.

"Holy shit is that General Ironwood!?" Heath asked loudly.

"Heath! No cussing!" Sapphire admonished her.

"Sorry Saph!"

"No, I ain't him. I'm Auron," Auron replied, "I guess my deep voice threw you off."

"Wow, you sound almost like him." Heath remarked.

"Why would you think Ironwood was there?" Sapphire asked Heath.

"Well… I don't know…" Heath replied in embarrassment, "The tournament's coming up…"

"Plus, if it was him," Raine spoke up for the first time, "You would've just said what you said to him. I'm Raine, by the way."

"Oh… Oh crap! That could've been bad for me…" Heath chuckled a bit, "Good thing he's not there then."

"Hey Saph, I'm gonna go," Alyss told the deer Faunus, "Raine's taking us to meet some of her friends, so I don't wanna keep them waiting."

"Oh, okay Aly. It was nice to talk to you." Sapphire said.

Alyss' eyes teared up a bit. "It's really only been a few days."

"I know," Sapphire said and Alyss could hear a sniffle coming from her end, "I just miss our Kitty. Stay safe, yeah?"

"I will," Alyss assured her, "I miss you guys too. See you in a few weeks."

"See you then. Bye." Sapphire said.

"Bye Alyss." Both Zack and Heath said.

"Bye guys. You stay safe too." Alyss told them all and the call was ended.

"Your old team sounds interesting." Raine remarked as Alyss put her scroll up.

"You really need to actually meet them. I think you'd get along great." Alyss told them.

"I take it that Sapphire ain't a fan o' cussin?" Auron asked her.

"Nope. She hates it."

Auron laughed. "Sounds like my mom. I know how to keep the cussin' down."

They finally reached the cafeteria and walked inside. Raine looked around and found her friends sitting at a table to the side. Raine led her team over to them and greeted them.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" She asked them all.

"Pretty good. Sun's shining, isn't too cold yet, and I'm getting three new good lookin' neighbors," Aulin gave a grin and looked through the three of them, "Nice to meet you guys. I'm Aulin Sylvana. So, what's your name, beautiful?" She asked Alyss.

"I-I'm Alyss… Nice to meet you." She answered her nervously.

Aulin smiled. "I like your hair. The black and blonde goes good together, especially since your right cat ear is black and the other is blonde."

"Thanks. It's natural too." Alyss said.

Aulin nodded and looked between Jace and Auron. "And what about the big boys?"

"I'm Jace." Jace greeted.

"Auron Karmine. Good to meetcha'." Auron greeted with a grin.

"Ooh man, I'm really lucky. Nice, good looking, and one's got really pretty hair. Glad you three are Raine's new teammates," Aulin snickered, "Team SLVA, wanna introduce yourselves?" She asked her team.

"I am Bell Vonas," Bell greeted quietly, her light-blue eyes looking at them nervously, "Nice to meet you three." She stood at five feet and nine inches tall, an inch taller than her leader. She had long light-red hair that was adorned by a white headband that held her hair from her face. Her hair had a few streaks of white in small places, and it reached the middle of her back. She wore a loose-fitting red shirt that didn't show off her chest at all, which was significantly smaller than Aulin's. She wore gray jeans and a pair of simple sandals.

"I'm Inuvali Lirra. Just call me Inu." Inuvali greeted them. He was five feet and eleven inches tall and he had a thin and wiry form. His wolf ears were longer than Raine's fox ears and were covered in dark gray fur. His long black hair was wild looking, the same length as Bell's. It had a long streak of silver running down the left side. His eyes were the color of bright yellow, but the iris of his left eye was smaller than the other. He wore a thin dark purple jacket over a white shirt, black jeans and a pair of black sneakers.

"I'm Barrett Akham." The last member of the team greeted quietly. He was a large teen with thick muscles across his body, almost as tall as Auron at six feet and seven inches. His skin was very dark and his hair was short and black. His eyes were a dull blue color. His outfit, much like Aulin's, was the same between combat and casual. He wore a dark-brown sleeveless vest, black work pants, and light-brown boots.

"Bell and Barrett are partners, then Inu's my partner." Aulin said and put her arm around his shoulders. He rolled his eyes and lifted her arm off of him, making her laugh.

"Good to meet you guys. Hopefully we can all get along well." Jace said to them all.

"Maybe we can all get in the tournament," Aulin said with a grin, "It would be nice to be able to whip you guys. Literally."

"Wait, what?" Auron and Alyss asked at the same time.

"I use a whip as a weapon. It's got a chamber in the grip of it that I can put any vial of dust in. I'm kinda like a dust mage with it. I call it _Elementia_." Aulin explained.

"Huh, maybe you can actually use your whip unlike my old piece of crap teammate," Jace grinned, "He uses a scimitar that turns into a bladed whip. The idiot always swung himself out of balance when he used it. Cool weapon though."

"Don't you worry about that, handsome," Aulin grinned, "I use my whip _real_ well."

"Good luck to anyone you date." Auron remarked with a grin.

"Oh trust me, they have a lot more to worry about." She winked at him.

"Really, Aulin?" Bell spoke up in her normally soft and quiet voice, "You do not need to flirt with everyone."

"I beg to differ, sweetie. It's fun." Aulin replied with a laugh.

"What do the rest of you use?" Alyss asked them all.

"I use an ōdachi with a shortened hilt. Essentially a large katana, if you didn't know," Inuvali said, "I call it _Orochi_. It's a few inches longer than a normal ōdachi, really around a foot longer. It's infused with gravity dust and I can use it with one hand since it can be so light. And it's extremely sharp."

"I'm sure you can use that against people," Jace said thoughtfully, "Where you're a thin guy, people in the tournament might think you'll be slow with it. Then you can just completely surprise them."

Inuvali nodded and gave a bit of a grin. "Smart. _Orochi_ is also capable of shrinking to the size of a normal katana for easier carrying."

"That's cool. I know of someone back in Atlas that uses a katana too. He keeps it in a small sheath on the underside of his arm and it extends fully into a katana. It has a detachable hilt too. I never really got his name." Jace told him.

"Inu is deceptively powerful as well," Bell said, warming up to the new friendly faces, "His body may be wiry, but he can lift a Major Ursa off the ground. You know how large those are, correct?"

"He can lift one o' those things with that small body o' his?" Auron asked in shock and looked toward Inuvali.

"Listen, have you guys met Yang Xiao Long?" Aulin asked them.

"I did when Ruby and Blake led me here." Alyss answered.

"And I met her when we met about sharing a garage for our motorcycles." Jace said.

"You have a motorcycle?" Aulin asked.

Jace nodded and grinned a bit. "Yep. My brother gave it to me so I can get around the city if I needed it."

"And you're who Yang talked about meeting with," Alyss said, "She _did_ say something about you having a big sword."

"Okayokayokay, alright, you know her," Aulin continued, "Besides the boobs, her and Inu have about the same build, he's just a few inches taller and about the same in the muscle category."

Inuvali rolled his eyes at the comparison. "I've never been compared to a woman like that."

"And you both have nice bodies too!" Aulin declared.

"Mother of Oum, help me." Inuvali groaned.

"That's beside the point," Aulin laughed at the annoyed look on her partner's face, "Yang is freaky strong. Like, one of the strongest in the school. Same with Nora Valkyrie and she's about as short as Raine."

"They're up there about with Yatsuhashi Daichi," Raine said, "He's taller than you, Auron."

Auron grunted in amusement. "Damn, I'm used to bein' the tallest person around. It'll be weird if I meet 'im," He turned to the other two members of team SLVA, "What about you guys?"

"I use a battle staff I named _Solaria_ ," Bell answered him, "I am a dust mage as well, from what Aulin keeps saying. It has a dust crystal in each end, bolt and burn. I can change them out for any other crystal as well. Also, I use vials of dust in other slots to amplify the effects of the crystals."

"I use a large caliber pistol called _Ifrit_. Pretty big," Barrett said and straightened up in his seat, his eyes gaining brightness to a bright ocean color, "It's kinda hard to explain it. It's like a regular pistol, but it's two. Kinda over and under. Like the grips are merged together and I use my index and pinky fingers to pull the triggers. It's got a bar of metal goin' between both pistols so I can block shit. That's the best way I can explain it without showin' you."

"I think I get what you're saying," Jace said, "How do you reload it?"

"The slides open up and I can shove a couple specially cut dust crystals in there. It's large caliber 'cause the pistols draw so much from the crystals," Barrett answered him, "I use a type of blade that wraps around my other fist too. For closer quarters stuff. That one's called _Sheeva_."

"Me an' you's kinda alike except I use actual bullets," Auron remarked, "I got two double barrel revolvers an' a claymore. I use a revolver in my right hand most o' the time an' the sword in my left."

"Hey! Left handers unite!" Aulin laughed and stuck her fist out to him.

Auron laughed with her and they shared a fist bump. "Gotta stick together since people usually call us the weird ones."

"Oh look, Aulin's already made a new friend," Bell said and rolled her eyes, "We should have bet on how long it would take."

"Hey, you know I'm friendly with everyone." Aulin replied to her.

"Friendly as in, ' _Flirt with anything on two legs_ '," Inuvali gave a grin, warming up to the new group fast, "I swear you do it every time you meet a new person."

"It's part of my charm," Aulin grinned at him, "Did the same with all of you."

"And you still do it." Bell remarked with a wry smile.

"You've done it with about half the school already," Barrett remarked, "I wouldn't be surprised if you tried with Glynda."

"Oh noooo! No no no," Aulin protested the idea, "She would probably stick me to a Nevermore and send it up to the freezing wastes of Solitas."

"That's a damn accurate summary of most of that place." Jace remarked.

Aulin nodded. "And besides, Glynda's a teacher. I'm not into teachers."

"Unless that teacher was just a few years older than you." Raine said.

"Eh… Maybe. Who knows?" Aulin laughed.

"I have an idea," Alyss said and gained everyone's attention, "How about we go to a sparring area and show off our weapons?"

Aulin grinned at the suggestion. "We can call Glynda in case we wanna spar too. You're as smart as you are pretty."

"U-umm… Thanks…" Alyss said lowly.

"And here we go again." Barrett sighed in good nature.

"Bite me, Barrett." Aulin said to him, a bit of disappointment in her voice, but it wasn't noticable.

"Might as well get our combat outfits too. If we _do_ fight, it would keep us from needing to go change." Raine said.

"Awesome! Let's go get sweaty!" Aulin cheered.

"Oh sweet Oum…" Inuvali groaned.

* * *

"Okay, I'm good to go." Jace said as he looked himself over, making sure his combat outfit fit just right. He pulled on a pair of thick black-leather gloves and rolled his shoulders.

 _"Huh. Second day here and I'm already sparring with some friendly people,"_ He grinned as he thought to himself, _"Getting a bit of a head start, ain't I Gen?"_

Alyss stretched her limbs out and gave a sigh from the effort. "Yeah, I am too. It'll be nice to get used to fighting with each other if we spar with them." She wore a deep purple, sleeveless vest under a white half-corset on her lower stomach. It had a couple of slim belts wrapped around her stomach with multiple pouches and magazines for her weapon. A white flag was attached to her belt that covered her backside with her oakleaf emblem displayed largely in purple, the flag extending down to her knees. She wore dark purple pants and a pair of black boots that reached her knees, each having three white straps. Over her hands and arms she wore black and purple striped, fingerless armstockings reaching her upper arms. Lastly, she wore her silver oakleaf necklace.

"We got an advantage if we spar," Auron said as he strapped his black metal armguard onto his right arm, "We got us a Ranger." He finished tightening the straps and put his gauntlet over his hand. His outfit was the same except for a few pieces of black armor on his legs and his right arm. His shin and knee were the only things covered on his left leg and his right was covered fully up to his thigh. His armguard and gauntlet had red on them as well.

Raine laughed. "I'm only an apprentice." She said as she took _Shagahod_ and its harness out of its case. She wore something different than what she usually wears to battle. She wore two lightly armored guards on her forearms and on her shins. Under that, she wore a dark-green combat vest and tight-fitting black cargo pants. She also wore a pair of boots almost like Aulin's except hers were black, and they had metal on the heels and toes of them. She decided not to wear her cloak, only because she's fair to her friends.

"You trained with Emowyn an' I know how damn good she is," Auron said with a grin, "You're basically our trump card."

"I appreciate the praise," Raine said with a smile, "I'm sure dad and Em would too."

"And we can use this to put our weapons in our lockers too." Jace said as he put _Legacy_ on his back.

"Let's get goin'. I want to make a good impression." Auron said.

"Gods, I'm gonna run out of apples before the semester starts at this rate." Jace said as he took an apple from his bag and slung the bag over his shoulders

He took a bite of the apple and the new team filed from the room.

* * *

"Oh hey!" Aulin called out from seeing JKDW arrive in the inside sparring are, "You guys are really ready for a fight aren't you?" She had her whip looped around a hook on her belt.

"Yeah, definitely," Jace answered her with a grin, "You guys are too."

"It was suggested. I just did what was asked." Inuvali said, resting his ōdachi on his shoulder. He wore black pants, a black long-sleeve shirt, the middle open to show his chest and two straps connecting both sides, and he wore black boots. Over that was dark red armor on his legs, upper arms, and lighter armor on his shirt over his torso and on his shoulders. He wore a pair of black gloves with metal on the knuckles and on the inner palms and fingers. His shirt also had two long coattails that extended down to his knees.

Barrett stood from his seat and showed off _Ifrit_. "This is the pistol I was talkin' about. See how hard it is to explain?" He asked with a small grin. The top pistol was engraved with the name of Lyla Akham.

"I've never seen a pistol like this in person. That's pretty cool." Jace said.

"They're not slides like normal pistols have," Barrett explained and opened them up, sliding them backwards to show the areas for the crystals, "I have to get them and cut them down myself to fit. It's simpler than worryin' about shells."

"That's true," Jace agreed, "But I just like using shells. Don't really know why."

Bell came up to them with her staff held in front of her. "You seem to care for apples a great deal, considering the smell from that bag." She said and nodded toward the bag over Jace's shoulder. Her staff was a light red adorned with gold accents. She wore a red skirt that went down to an inch above her knees and a red robe over her torso and arms. The ends of the sleeves were white and frilly on the inside, and the skirt had golden frills on the inside. Along with that, she wore a pair of white boots that reached her upper calves with white stockings going up to the middle of her thighs.

"How can you smell them?" Jace asked her.

"The whole bag _does_ give off a good smell." Auron said.

"Calm's fruit are known for their stronger smell too." Raine added.

Bell nodded. "I can smell them easily."

"Ah, well I basically always crave them. About like fish." Jace replied with a grin as he set the bag down next to the seats.

"And now Aulin knows what to bribe you with." Barrett said with a grin.

"What kinda girl do you take me for?" Aulin asked, putting on a hurt expression, "I don't bribe people!"

Raine raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you try to give me chicken in exchange for-"

"No! I never bribe people!" Aulin denied and looked through Jace, Auron, and Alyss, "Don't believe them."

"Are we going to spar? Or is this going to be a day of denial?" Inuvali asked his leader.

"Yeah! Let's get this party started!" Aulin exclaimed, taking focus away from the previous conversation, "Glynda said we can use this place as long as we watch what we're doing. She told us how to set up the aura board so we don't end up killing each other."

"How about we set the limit to fifty percent?" Alyss suggested, "It'll give us a good chance to test each other."

"We can do that." Inuvali agreed.

"We could probably do one on one," Barrett suggested, "Lets at least one of us keep an eye on the board. We can mostly sit back and watch too."

"Good idea, Bear," Aulin grinned, making Barrett roll his eyes at the nickname, "One on one it is!"

"What about your weapons?" Bell asked the three new students, "What do you three use?"

"Artillery claymore," Jace said and took his sword off his back, "I called it _Legacy_. I made it really heavy because I can use that with my semblance and do some damage."

"An artillery claymore? That ain't a combination of words I ever thought I'd hear." Barrett remarked.

"You should've seen the look on my dad's face when he saw the plans." Jace laughed.

 _"Okay… Okay, about to fight now. Gotta clear my head of Alyss' purring… Gods, why is that stuck in my head? Not that I'm complaining, but why?"_

"I got my claymore, _Last Call_ ," Auron said and took the blade from his back, "Transforms into a lever-action rifle. Then I got my double barrel revolvers." He finished and took one from its holster.

"Damn, going full gunslinger aren't you?" Aulin said with a laugh.

"You could say that." Auron grinned.

"I have a glaive called _Soul Leaf_ ," Alyss took her staff from the hoop on the back of her shoulder and extended the blade out, "It can transform into a submachine gun too."

"So, that's everyone's weapons all explained?" Aulin asked and looked over everyone, "Then let's have some fun!"


	7. Chapter 7: Test Your Skill

**Chapter Seven**

 **Test Your Skill**

"Alright, who's first?" Raine asked before Aulin got ahead of herself.

"I dunno…" Aulin said and looked through the assembled students, "How about… Barrett and Auron, Inu and Raine, Bell and Alyss, then me and Jace. How's that?"

"You just wanna whip Jace, don't you?" Raine grinned.

"Maybe… Anyway! Anyone have any other ideas for opponents?" Aulin asked them all. Everyone shook their heads, "Alright, who's first?"

"I don't care to go first. Do you, Barrett?" Auron asked his opponent.

"Nah, it don't matter to me," Barrett replied, "Let's do this." He said and stepped toward the middle of the area.

"Time to maybe get my ass kicked!" Auron laughed and took _Last Call_ from his back.

"Me? Kick _your_ ass?" Barrett snorted out a laugh, "You stood toe to toe with Pyrrha. I ain't even on her level in combat class. Not even in top fifteen."

"Don't sell yourself short," Auron took a stance where his sword was held behind him and his right side forward, "Depends on who ya fight. Me an' Pyr knew each other's moves pretty decently after the first couple fights. I don't know yours an' I'm damn sure you know a lot o' mine. You might beat me. You never know."

Barrett grunted as he took in the words. "Damn… not a lot of people say that about me."

Auron gave a grin. "I'm sure you've heard it from your team. That's what matters."

Barrett winced inwardly at the words. "Yeah… they have."

"Fight or kiss!" Aulin yelled at them.

"Where's the person that says go?" Auron questioned her.

"GO!" Everyone yelled.

 _"Damn, Beacon's gonna be fun."_ Auron thought to himself as Barrett bolted toward him,

Barrett swung _Sheeva_ toward him in a left hook and Auron blocked and deflected it with his armguard. He spun around and brought his blade toward Barrett's exposed back and the Vacuoan native rolled forward under the swing. He came to his feet and Auron quickly went after him, bringing _Last Call_ down in a strong slash. Barrett brought up _Ifrit_ and blocked the blade. He was about to counter and send _Sheeva_ into Auron's face, but a sudden metal pillar rose from the ground and smashed into his stomach. He was stunned by the unexpected attack and staggered backwards.

 _"Looks like I'm startin' off strong."_ Auron grinned.

Auron jumped in and slashed across Barrett's gut multiple times, with the last being blocked by _Ifrit_. Barrett sent Auron's blade to the side as unleashed six shots into his gut, then Auron brought a wall of metal up.

Multiple more shots bit into the wall and Barrett looked confused by it. Auron sent his fist into the wall and it detached itself from the ground, smacking straight into Barrett and sending him sailing backwards and onto the ground. Auron sent more aura into the ground and sent a pillar under Barrett's body, sending him sailing into the air. Auron stomped the ground and launched himself after him, spinning himself in a counterclockwise motion. When he reached Barrett, he brought _Last Call_ into his side and fired off a shot, sending the teen back into the ground.

"Holy shit! That's the match!" Aulin called out in shock at seeing her teammate defeated like that.

Auron landed on his feet and gave a grin to Barrett. "Sorry. Had to start off strong."

"Couldn't you have saved that for actual class?" Barrett asked.

"That can wait."

"That's our teammate… Damn." Raine said with a grin.

"I never had a damn chance did I?" Barrett asked as he took a seated position.

"That ain't it," Auron said as he held his hand out for him, "You never seen my semblance. That's a huge damn unknown. I still don't know about your fightin' style an' you still got that advantage if we fight again," Barrett took Auron's hand and he helped him up on his feet, "Hell, I don't know your semblance either. So I could be fucked."

"Yeah… maybe." Barrett sighed as he hooked both his weapons on his belt.

"Don't be so down on yourself."

"That's not it… It's somethin' completely different…"

Auron looked at him in confusion before he realized it. _"Ah, must be thinkin' about his mom…"_

"What _is_ your semblance anyway?" He asked.

Barrett looked into the air above them and took a deep breath. When he let it out, green fire bellowed from his mouth, going ten feet into the air before he stopped.

"Dragon breath. Now we're even on that." Barrett said.

"Huh… damn. I know a guy that blows smoke from his mouth, but this is new." Auron remarked.

"I know him," Alyss said as Auron and Barrett walked back to them, "Jax Creed. He was at Shade one time and he taught me a bit about how to use my glaive better since he uses one too. He helped me out a lot."

Auron grunted. "Small world, ain't it?"

He and Barrett arrived and sat down with their respective teams. "Who's next?" Auron asked everyone.

"We can go if Bell wants to." Alyss offered.

Bell nodded. "We can do that. I look forward to fighting with you, Alyss."

"That's good with me," Jace said and grinned at his teammate, "Good luck."

Auron tilted his head slightly. _"I didn't get any good luck wishes."_ He thought with a small grin.

"Thanks Jace." Alyss smiled toward him.

The girls walked toward the center of the area and stood ready. Alyss held _Soul Leaf_ behind her, blade extended toward the ground. Bell held _Solaria_ almost tentatively in front of herself as she looked ahead. Both girls had a look of concentration on their faces.

Auron glanced to the side and noticed Jace's eyes were on Alyss. _"Makes sense. Leader's gotta watch how his teammates do."_

"You both ready?" Auron asked the girls. They nodded quickly at the questions and Auron grinned.

"Go!"

Bell immediately swung one end of _Solaria_ forward and sent out a fireball toward Alyss. She barely rolled out of the way of the fast attack and barely dodged a bolt of lighting from the other end. She transformed _Soul Leaf_ and fired its rounds at her opponent as she moved closer. Bell took a vial of dust from her belt and sent its contents out, then used her aura to form a wall of earth to block the shots.

She moved past the wall and sent out three more fireballs toward Alyss. The cat Faunus strafed through them and transformed her weapon back to its glaive form. She came within a few feet of Bell and planted the blunt end ito the ground, making the shaft stick into the air. She jumped and spun around the glaive, kicking out at Bell and catching her in the chest and knocking her to the ground. Alyss landed on her feet quickly lifted the glaive from the ground and brought the blade around in a downward arc.

Bell spun on the ground and dodged the blade, then she kicked Alyss back off of her. She jumped back to her feet and sent _Solaria_ into Alyss' sides multiple times. Alyss blocked with her glaive and spun around counterclockwise to bring the blunt end into Bell's side. She quickly reversed the spin and brought _Soul Leaf_ all the way around, sending the blade into Bell's right shoulder.

Bell quickly pushed Alyss away and spun around with her staff, sending a barrage of fireballs and lightning bolts toward the Faunus. She backed away and dodged as much as she could but she wasn't able to avoid everything, taking a high amount of damage from the dust attacks. She shook herself and jumped forward, but Bell was waiting for it. She dropped down and sent the end of _Solaria_ up into Alyss' chest.

Alyss spun around it and brought her glaive into Bell's side, but she hopped and rolled over it. In her crouching position, Bell rose and sent her leg towards Alyss' head in a reverse roundhouse kick. Alyss blocked the kick with the shaft of her weapon but was unprepared for Bell's staff when it hit her hard in the side of the head. She twisted around and sent the end of _Solaria_ into Alyss' gut, sending a blast of fire that blasted Alyss away. She landed hard on her back and then she heard Aulin.

"That's it! Belly won!"

"Stop it with that nickname!" Bell yelled at her, not amused with the name.

Alyss groaned and sat up on the ground. She offered a smile toward her opponent and she gave a warm smile back. "That was a good match. I didn't expect to win, but it was fun. I'm not all that good at fighting other people."

"If you expect to lose, then you will always lose," Bell offered her hand and Alyss took it, "You fought well."

She helped the cat Faunus to her feet and Alyss brushed herself off. "Thanks," She said, "I didn't expect all the fireballs."

"I believe that is why Aulin calls me a dust mage," Bell replied softly, "Others call it a cheap tactic."

"As cheap as using a gun in a fight," Alyss rolled her eyes at the claim, "Nothing cheap about it. Most everyone uses dust some way and some just use it in an awesome way like you."

"Thank you. No one's views are going to change my fighting style, unless it is offering me advice on how to improve."

"What's your semblance? You didn't use it in the match did you?"

Bell shook her head. "No, I did not. I do not like using it against anyone."

"Why not?" Alyss asked curiously.

"I drain the aura of others' and it replenishes mine. I do not like the thought of just draining a person's energy." Bell answered quietly.

"I don't like the thought of hurting other people," Alyss said, "If you really have to, then you have to. I just hope I never have to."

"Yes, I feel the same way."

"Do you think you could do the reverse too?" Alyss asked, "Give your aura to raise someone else's?"

"I would not know yet," Bell answered, "I have only recently discovered it."

"You should try sometime. You might be able to help other people like me. I can heal injuries with my semblance."

"You can?"

"Yeah. I healed Jace's arm yesterday. It was really burned."

"That is amazing… I will have to try with my own."

The girls sat down with their teams and Aulin grinned at her teammate. "Well look at you. Already made a new friend, huh?"

"I would like to hope I have." Bell said with a smile toward Alyss.

"Yeah, same here." Alyss said and returned the smile.

"Who knew fightin' someone could make them friends?" Auron laughed.

"You're okay, right?" Jace asked Alyss, "I mean, it looked like you got hit pretty hard."

"I'm fine," Alyss assured him with a smile, "I still have my aura, so no damage done."

Jace nodded and looked to Aulin. "You wanna go next?"

"Oh yeah! Get ready, big boy!" Aulin said cheerfully as she stood from her seat.

"I'm as ready as I can be," Jace replied and rose slowly, "I still don't know how to deal with a whip."

"The best you can." Aulin offered with a grin.

"Right..."

The two stepped toward the center and Auron glanced at Jace again, this time a bit of confusion on his face. _"Okay, he knew Alyss wouldn't have took any bad damage if her aura didn't break. Wonder why he was so concerned?"_

"I think you might be surprised if I use my semblance, so be ready for that." Aulin warned Jace as she took _Elementia_ off her belt.

"Same to you." Jace grinned and took _Legacy_ from his back.

"Can't wait for it, sweetheart."

"Kiss or fight!" Auron yelled at them, echoing what Aulin yelled earlier.

"We can do both!" Aulin called back.

"Oum… Just like Heath." Alyss said to herself with a small grin.

"Alright! Go!" Raine called for them both to start.

Aulin raised and spun her whip around in a circle above her head, sending burn dust through it to set it ablaze. She cracked it toward Jace and sent out a wave of fire toward him. He dodged out of the way of it and she sent another two after him. He avoided them as well and glanced at his gloved hand. He raised it and sent a fireball from it, surprising and striking Aulin in the torso, pushing her back.

Jace rushed forward in an extremely fast motion and swung his blade, connecting with Aulin's side and sending her flying across the floor. She landed on her back and rolled to her feet as she looked in shock at the fast movement. She cracked her whip toward Jace multiple times, sending waves and balls of fire toward him. Jace grinned and activated his semblance, growing his wings and flying into the air above it all as all members of Aulin's team looked on in complete shock.

Aulin rolled out of the way of the next attack and Jace's sword bit into the ground. Jace lifted _Legacy_ from the ground and slashed out again, hitting Aulin hard again. She faced Jace and switched the vial in _Elementia's_ hilt with bolt dust. She struck Jace multiple times in the side and the face before he turned on her. She wrapped her whip around his sword and pulled herself toward him. She kicked him in the face with the metal heels of her boots and Jace flew backwards with his wings. He let them dissipate as his body retained its grown size. Aulin chased after him and sent a lightning bolt toward him. He blocked the attack with _Legacy_ and Aulin rushed up to him. She raised her leg and sent a kick to the right side of his head, which he blocked with his forearm. He swung his heavy blade easily with his left hand, catching Aulin in the side and sending her crashing to the ground.

"You're out, Aulin!" Raine called out to her friend.

"Shit, really?" She asked and looked to the aura display. She was below the limit and Jace was in his fifties, "I didn't even get to use my semblance." She pouted as she jumped up to her feet.

"Wanna show me anyways?" Jace asked.

"As much as I'd like to keep it a surprise..." Aulin said and raised her right hand. After a moment, her light-blue colored aura came from her fist in the form of a blade, "Wanna touch it?"

Jace tilted his head and reached his hand out. He felt the aura and it was freezing cold, and it felt hard as well. "So… aura blades I'm guessing?"

Aulin shook her head. "Just ice. You can see my aura tendrils in it since it's clear and it's hard and sharp. Or I can send out ice shards."

"I can see how that would've surprised me."

"And I see how yours surprised me!" Aulin exclaimed as she let the ice melt off her fist, "You can seriously grow wings? That's so cool!"

"You should've seen the look on my brother's face when they first grew," Jace grinned, "He had this stupid look on his face for the longest time."

"And you hit like a damn Ursa too!" Aulin said as the two finally sat down, "Hell, it took just a few hits to bring my aura down. Damn, that was fun."

"It was," Jace agreed, "Alright, that leaves Raine and Inu." He said and the two stood up from their seats.

"I think you made a good first impression," Auron grinned, "Your semblance is good for that."

"Yeah, I know." Jace laughed.

"Yeah, really," Alyss agreed, "I think we all looked like idiots when you showed us. I think it's awesome."

"Thanks." Jace smiled at her.

 _"Alright… these two are really gettin' along,"_ Auron thought as he glanced at the two, _"Wonder what the hell's up with 'em both. I got one good guess..."_

"Good luck, Raine!" Alyss called to her teammate.

"You too, Inu!" Aulin called to her partner.

Raine and Inuvali stood I'm the middle and stood ready. Inuvali held _Orochi_ to his side by the blade near the hilt, the long blade pointed behind him. He had it in its shortest form for the moment, waiting for the match to start. Raine had her rifle on her back and she took her sword from it, taking a short glance at the pendant on the crossguard. She sent her aura through her back and made _Shagahod_ come to her side, then she grabbed her knife from its sheath on the right side. She made the rifle return to her back and she held both blades to her sides.

Auron's eyes widened a bit. "That's a hell of a riggin' you got for your gun." He remarked.

Raine shrugged, flipping her knife in her hand over and over. "It got annoying when I tried to get my knife before, so I made this."

"Pretty nice." Auron said.

Raine nodded. "Thanks."

"You both ready?" Aulin asked Raine and Inuvali. The two nodded their heads at the question and braced themselves.

"Fight!"

Inuvali launched himself toward Raine and swung _Orochi_ at her in a side cut. She jumped back quickly and Inuvali extended it to its full length, striking Raine in the stomach. She backpedaled away from him as he jumped at her again. She parried the next attack with her sword and rushed in to slice him with her knife. He retracted his sword, taking the hit to his aura, and sliced back at Raine's side. Raine jumped and turned over it, sending her sword into Inuvali's shoulder. She quickly moved in for another slash but Inuvali jumped backwards with a handspring and came back to his feet.

Inuvali extended _Orochi_ to its full form and jumped at Raine again, slicing at her with a barrage of fast strikes. She blocked each one with both her sword and knife separately, then Inuvali jumped back at her. She crossed her blades against his over handed swing and she directed it to her side. Inuvali went past her and twisted his body around, throwing a reverse roundhouse that caught Raine in the face. She leapt backwards and Inuvali was right there with _Orochi_ in its shortened form. She crossed her blades again to block it and jumped up, sending both her boots into Inuvali's chest and sending him backwards.

Raine charged in and jumped, twisting her body and sending the tip of her right boot towards his head. When it struck, it passed right through his head when he used his semblance. Raine immediately landed on her left foot and reversed her kick, sending her heel into the back of his head. That hit actually connected and dazed him, leaving him vulnerable for attack. Raine sliced at his body with both blades, striking over and over until she kicked him in the gut, doubling him over. She raised her foot again and kicked him in the forehead to raise him back up straight. Raine twisted her body around in a clockwise turn and rose and bent her right leg. The metal of her heel connected with Inuvali's jaw and knocked him backwards and to the ground.

"You're out, Inu!" Aulin called to her partner.

Inuvali let out a chuckle and shook his head. "Am I ever going to beat you, Raine?"

"Maybe. I had my opening when you used your semblance," Raine replied as Inuvali came to his feet, "You really have to look out for that next hit from behind."

"I know. It always catches me off guard."

"Don't help that you're fightin' a Ranger, does it?" Auron asked with a grin.

Inuvali gave a grin as well. "It doesn't, no."

"So, what now?" Aulin asked everyone.

"I'm eating another apple, that's what." Jace said and reached into his rapidly dwindling supply of the fruit.

"Shouldn't you wanna save them if you like them so much?" Alyss asked him.

"Probably. But I _really_ like them." Jace said with a grin.

"Perhaps we should return to the cafeteria?" Bell suggested, "We would do well to fill ourselves up from the exertion."

"We gotta take our weapons to our lockers first though." Jace said.

"True. Let's get goin' because I am freaking starving now." Aulin said and everyone went to leave.

"Hey Aul, I need to talk to you guys for a minute," Barrett said lowly and gained his team's attention.

"What is it, Barrett?" Bell asked him.

"We'll meet you in the cafeteria," Jace told them, "We'll save you a few seats."

"Lookin' forward to it, Angel." Aulin said with a grin.

Jace shook his head and grinned. "That's not something I've been called before."

"Be prepared for it every day." Inuvali warned him.

Jace gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I figured. See you guys in a bit."


	8. Chapter 8: Decision

**Chapter Eight**

 **Decision**

Team JKDW sat themselves down with their food and dug in, quickly devouring the meals without conversation while they waited for the others. Not a lot of students had returned from the break and few were in the cafeteria with them. When they were finished, they took their trays and dumped the scraps in the garbage, then they sat back down.

"So... Pretty eventful two days, huh?" Alyss said to her team.

"Yeah, it has been." Raine agreed.

 _"Not even a week knowing each other and things are going great."_ She thought with a smile.

"That's a good start to the semester that hasn't even started yet." Jace said.

"Definitely," Raine agreed with him as well, "I'm glad you guys got along with Aulin and the others."

"Well, they're nice people, so yeah." Jace replied.

"How long d'ya think it'll take 'em to put their stuff up?" Auron asked Raine.

"Shouldn't be much longer until they get here unless they stopped to talk with someone." Raine answered.

"You guys fought pretty good," Jace told them all, "I think we can get into the tournament."

"Even though I lost my fight?" Alyss asked.

"Every one of you fought good. It doesn't matter that you lost," Jace said to her, "You told us that you're strength isn't fighting people, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then don't worry about it. You're not any less of a member of this team because of it."

Alyss nodded slowly and gave a smile. "Thanks… Before Jax gave me a few lessons, I was even worse."

"Everyone gets better. You just have to work for it." Raine said to her.

"Damn straight," Auron let out a laugh, "It's what happened after my first fight with Pyrrha. I just trained an' got better. Still never got close to beatin' her though."

"So, just train more?" Alyss asked and everyone nodded, "I'll definitely try."

"Hey sis! That's the guy!"

Jace bolted his head up at the familiar voice and looked around to the entrance. The others looked as well and saw team RWBY, two members walking toward them while the others went to sit down.

"Yang, right?" Jace asked the blonde girl.

"Yep, good that you remember," Yang grinned, "This is my little sister, Ruby Rose. She wanted to ask you something."

"Me? What would you…" Jace asked before he realized what she meant, "Oh, my weapon, right?"

Ruby nodded nervously. "Yeah, Yang told me about it and I wanted to see it, if you don't mind," She requested and turned to Alyss, "Hey Alyss. Like it here?"

Alyss nodded. "Yeah, I do. My new team is great."

"Yeah, I can show it to you," Jace said to Ruby and stood from his seat, "Let's go."

Ruby nodded and the two left the cafeteria toward the locker room. Yang glanced after them and grinned. "Well that was quick," She said and turned to the others, "So, Auron Karmine, right?" She asked the raven-haired teen.

"Yeah, that's me." Auron answered her.

"Pyrrha told us about you. Just wanna say any friend of hers is a friend of mine."

Auron gave a smile. "Thanks. I'm glad y'all ain't been crazy fangirls to her."

"Weiss was at first," Yang laughed, "Jaune didn't even know who she was."

"I'm sure that was a breath o' fresh air for her." Auron remarked.

"Wanna go meet my team?" Yang asked, "Might as well since we'll be in classes together."

"Fuck it, I'm tired but I'm up for meetin' new people." Auron said and the two left toward Weiss and Blake.

"Our group is slowly withering." Alyss remarked with a grin.

"Yep. Looks like we're alone until the others get here." Raine replied.

 _"I wonder what's taking them so long?"_

"Speaking of the others…" Alyss said and looked at the doors where SLVA entered, all looking rather sad.

 _"Oh… crap, did he decide?_ " Raine wondered to herself as she saw Barrett.

The team arrived to them and sat down across the table. Raine looked through all of them and gave a sigh. "Did… Did you decide?" She asked Barrett.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm gonna try to go to Shade."

Raine sighed again at the news. "I guess you talked to them about it?"

"He did…" Bell said more quietly than usual.

"I know I can't do a damn thing about what happened to mom," Barrett said, "But I want to be close to home in case I'm needed. I know if I stay here, I ain't gonna be able to think straight. I'll just feel better with being closer and I won't drag my team down by stayin' here."

"You wouldn't be dragging us down, Bear," Aulin told him, "But… I'm not gonna try to change your mind."

"I just…" Barrett sighed, "Damn it, I feel like I'm abandoning-"

"Don't say that!" Alyss told him, maybe a bit too loudly, "I know exactly how you feel with that and I'm sure they'll tell you that you're not abandoning anyone. I felt like I was abandoning my old team when I left… and it's a horrible feeling."

"No, you're not abandoning us," Inuvali said to Barrett, "It's an honorable thing that you want to be closer to your family. As much as I hate to say it... you'll be close in case the worst happens."

"Yeah… Times like this, you never know what happens next… Thanks for understandin'." Barrett told them all.

"Any time, Bear," Aulin said with a grin, "I don't care that we might not be able to get in the tournament. You gotta keep your head straight and if being closer to your mom will do that, then you have to go."

"We cannot have you fail because you are worried," Bell said softly and laid her hand on his shoulder, "It may be for the best."

"And that's what my old team told me." Alyss said.

"Let's go see Ozpin now… We need to let him know." Inuvali said.

"Yeah, we need to do that," Aulin said as she stood up, "We figured we'd let you know first, Raine."

"Yeah, thanks," Raine said, "See you guys later."

 _"I didn't really expect that."_ Raine thought to herself sadly.

Team SLVA left them and the two girls stayed silent. After a few moments, Auron returned to them after he saw the others leave. "Hey, what's goin' on?"

Raine sighed heavily as she looked up to him. "Barrett's transferring out."

"Really?" Auron said, a bit deflated, "Damn... I was lookin' forward to sparrin' with him some more. I'm sure he could put up a great fight if he put his mind to it."

"It's not like you'll never see him again," Raine offered a small grin, "It'll probably still be awhile before he leaves if Ozpin and Blaine agree to it. You can still spar a few times."

Auron sighed and sat down. "Guess you're right."

"He said it was to be closer to home..." Alyss spoke up, "He thinks he's abandoning them but we told him he wasn't. I hope he'll be alright."

"Yeah..." Auron sighed.

"Me too." Raine said.

* * *

"How did you even come up with this?" Ruby asked Jace with a wide grin as he showed off _Legacy_.

"I wanted something like my brother's, but I wanted something that was just mine," Jace answered her, "I kinda just thought of it. I needed something I could hit hard with. And since I can shoot the gun part while I swing it, I can do some damage with it."

Ruby lifted the sword easily and looked over the receiver and the magazine. "These are huge bullets. They might be bigger than _Crescent Rose_."

"And that's your scythe, right?"

 _"Glad someone else is interested in Legacy."_ Jace thought with a grin.

"Yep! Man, I've never even heard of an artillery claymore before. This is so cool!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that has one," Jace said as Ruby handed the sword back to him, "And my semblance just makes me hit harder with it."

"Let's get back to the cafeteria so Yang doesn't think you kidnapped me." Ruby suggested and they left the locker room after Jace put his sword back in his locker.

"So, what beings you over to Beacon?" Ruby asked.

"My old teammate crossed a line when he grabbed my tail." Jace replied.

"Your tail…?" Ruby echoed and looked behind Jace, seeing nothing.

Jace grinned as he unwrapped it from around his waist. "I have both tails and ears. Confusing, right?"

"That's really cool!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I'm glad you think so."

"And your old teammate grabbed it?"

"Yeah. It hurt really badly," Jace answered her, "My brother broke his nose for it. He's still stuck on the same team, but hopefully he can set them straight someday." He decided to let his tail sway freely behind him, letting it have a bit of exercise.

"Oum, what a scummy guy," Ruby shook her head, "But hey! You don't have to deal with that now!"

"Definitely," Jace smiled and his scroll's ringtone went off, "Speaking of my brother…"

"Hey Gen, how's it going?" He greeted his brother as he answered the call

"Pretty good. I met my new teammate earlier." Genesis answered him.

"Who is it?"

"Her name's Nika Styles. She came from Beacon."

"Ah, so she already went to Atlas?" Jace asked.

"Yeah. She's freaking awesome too," Genesis gave a short laugh, "She met Michael and he tried to hit on her first thing. She just completely told him off. I'm not going into details, but it was great."

"Glad someone else did other than us," Jace grinned, "My new team is great too. All of them are good fighters and they're friendly. And I've met more friendly people here than I knew in Atlas."

"That's good. How's the other cat Faunus, huh? She cute?"

 _"God dammit, Gen…"_

"Shhhut up," Jace said as a blush came to his face, "Look… Yes, she is. But I'm not trying to focus on any of that right now." He whispered into the scroll.

"Oh come on, you can't be single every day of your life, y'know?"

"I know that…" Jace sighed, "Maybe… I don't know right now and I don't know a whole lot about her."

"It's alright," Genesis assured, "Just take your time."

"Listen, I'm being rude right now because I was talking with a new friend before you called. I'm gonna go."

"Who's your friend?"

"Ruby Rose. She wanted to see my artillery claymore."

"And it was awesome!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Sounds excitable," Genesis said "Anyway, I'll let you go. Talk to you later."

"Later Gen."

The two ended the call and Jace shook his head. "Sorry about that. But I had to talk to him."

"That's fine. I'd do the same thing if Yang called if we were in different kingdoms." Ruby replied.

"That was my brother, Genesis. He told me he met his new teammate earlier."

"Aaannndd who were you both talking about after that?" Ruby asked innocently, "I kinda saw your cheeks get red.

"Umm… He asked about the other cat Faunus in my team and he asked if she was cute." Jace decided to tell her.

"And you think she is?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do. Not gonna lie," Jace admitted, "Can you not tell her, please? I don't want things to be weird since we're a new team and all."

"Yeah, sure! My lips are sealed!" Ruby assured him.

"So," Jace started, wanting to change subjects, "Anyone get here from other schools?"

"Only one that I know of that came from Haven. He kinda snuck here on a ship," Ruby giggled a bit, bHe threw a banana peel at someone too."

"That's one way to do it." Jace chuckled.

"Yeah-"

"I guess more freaks are gonna be getting here."

Jace felt himself tense up. _"Oh no, not this shit…"_

He turned as he instinctively coiled his tail around his waist. He saw a broad shouldered boy with burnt-orange hair sneering toward the both of them, standing next to a scrawny boy with a mohawk.

"This guy looks like the king freak," The one with the mohawk said, "It's not normal for an animal like them to have both traits."

"Ignore them, Jace. They're just idiot bullies." Ruby told Jace.

"Aw, what? You gonna run away like a little stray cat?" The larger one asked.

"I don't know who you are, but please shut your fucking mouth." Jace growled at him.

The one with the mohawk laughed. "Or what? Little pussy gonna-"

Jace activated his semblance and launched himself forward, propelled by his wings. He grabbed both their mouths and slammed them to the ground, shutting them up.

"Leave me the fuck alone." He warned with a snarl and froze their mouths shut with ice dust.

He deactivated his semblance and walked back toward the cafeteria. Ruby raced after him after glancing back at the confused and wide-eyed bullies.

"Jace, what was that?" She asked as she caught up to him.

"My semblance. I grow wings along with my body growing bigger." Jace answered her.

"How did you freeze their mouths shut?"

"Ice dust in my gloves." Jace lied, gritting his teeth as he tried to calm down.

"Okay, makes sense," Ruby sighed, "Sorry you had to meet those two."

"Who were they?" Jace asked, "Not that I actually care. I just want to know so I can steer clear of them."

"Cardin and Russell. Just idiots that try to pick on everyone."

"They'd better stay away from me and my team." Jace said lowly.

"Just try to ignore them. They're not worth the trouble." Ruby said.

Jace let out a deep breath. "I can try."

"Cheer up, Jace. They're just a couple bad apples. There's a few like them, but not a whole lot."

"That's really good to know."

They returned to the cafeteria and Jace went to go back to his team, but Ruby stopped him. "Hey, wanna come meet Weiss and Blake?"

"Weiss... Schnee?" Jace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, she isn't that bad," Ruby assured him, "She's nothing like Cardin or his team. She was kinda bad around Faunus at the beginning of the year, but she's been getting better about it since the end of the last semester."

"That's good to hear," Jace sighed in relief, "I don't think possibly yelling at a Schnee would be too great."

"Please don't," Ruby laughed, "Then that would get her yelling and no one wants that. So, wanna meet them?"

Jace nodded. "Sure."

Ruby led him over to the others of her team and Yang grinned. "Did she drool over your sword?"

"Yang!" Ruby whined, glaring at her.

Jace laughed. "No, she didn't. But she _did_ have a weird look in her eyes."

"Now that, I'm not gonna deny." Ruby said.

"I guess I can introduce myself," Jace said to the other two, "I'm Jace Reznor. Nice to meet you both."

"You as well," Weiss replied, "I am Weiss Schnee. I hope my family name hasn't soured your thoughts about me."

Jace shrugged a bit. "I won't lie, I was kinda expecting the worst. But Ruby told me that you were good, so I'm okay."

"Thank you."

"I'm Blake Belladonna," Blake greeted him, "Nice to meet you too."

"If you don't mind me asking," Weiss started, "Are you the Faunus with both ears and tail?"

Jace nodded, unwrapping his tail from around his waist once more. "I was born with a mutation. My tail is kind of the reason I came to Beacon because my old teammate grabbed it and pulled."

"Did you punch them for it?" Yang asked, noticing that Blake had stopped reading her book and was paying close attention.

Jace shook his head. "It hurt so bad that I couldn't do anything. My brother broke his nose to get him to let go, though. He was lucky I couldn't do anything."

Weiss shook her head. "What an imbecile. Violating personal space is one thing. But grabbing and harming a person is crossing a line, Faunus or no."

"Hopefully I can put that behind me and just enjoy my time here," Jace said, "Well, it was good to meet you both. I'm gonna go back to my team."

* * *

The new team of students explored the school over the next two weeks, getting used to the layout and meeting with the professors. Jace, Alyss, and Auron had met multiple more students that turned out to be friendly, such as team CFVY. All members of team JKDW met the one that Ruby told Jace about, Sun Wukong.

Headmasters Ozpin and Blaine had agreed to the transfer for Barrett, and Ozpin said he had already found a student to take his place. Barrett would get to stay at Beacon until the Vytal Festival was over, considering his new team would be there and he could get to know them then. Aulin had been informed that her new teammate would be arriving for the tournament as well, coming from a team of trouble-making slackers.

"So, we have a couple more days until classes start," Raine told her team, "You guys are sure you know where everything is?" It was close to ten at night when she asked, all of them settled down into their sleepwear. Raine's being a pair of brown sweatpants and loose-green shirt. Auron's being a pair of black shorts and red muscle shirt. Alyss' being a dark purple nightgown. And Jace's being a pair of black sweatpants and a black tank top.

"Yeah," Jace said after he took a bite of an apple. He had replenished his supply of them after he ran out in the first few days, "I'm good on everything."

"Before classes _do_ start back," Alyss said to them, "I want to take you guys to meet my mom. I'm sure she'll wanna know who my new friends and teammates are."

"Yeah, we can do that." Jace said.

"Awesome. We can go tomorrow if no one has any plans."

"Nope. I got nothin' except sittin' on my ass." Auron said.

Raine's scroll buzzed and she checked it, seeing she had a message from Aulin. "Oh hey, Aulin found out who their new teammate is."

"That's good. Who is it?" Alyss asked.

"He's a guy from Atlas. She says his name is Alex Storm."

"Wh-what!?" Jace blurted out and looked to her with wide eyes, "D-did you just say ' _Storm_ '?"

"Yeah, why?" Raine said, confused by Jace's sudden attitude change.

Jace started breathing rapidly as he crushed the apple in his hand on accident, standing from his seat. He placed his hands on the table to support himself as he shook his head quickly.

"No no no no no… Not them…" He breathed out.

"Jace, what's wrong?" Auron asked him, staring at him in confusion.

"I-I-I-I can't… They're supposed to be in fucking prison!" He said and clenched his eyes shut. His hands started giving off different elements as his aura flared from his emotions. The table was scorched, frozen, drenched, and it cracked under everything. He backed away from the table and brought his hands in front of himself.

 _"No no no! Please don't let this be them… M-my hands… Gods, they saw what happened to the table… They have to know something's different and wrong with me…"_ He thought frantically in his head, _"Why… why now? I don't want them to know this way-"_

"Jace! Please just tell us what's wrong!" Alyss pleaded with him

Jace shook his head and sunk to the floor, holding his head in his hands.

"M-my birth family…"


	9. Chapter 9: Truth

**Chapter Nine**

 **Truth**

"What do you mean by that?" Alyss asked Jace, completely shocked at seeing the fear wash over him.

"M-my last name… It used to be Storm…" Jace answered lowly.

"That's the family that abandoned you, right?" Raine asked.

Jace shook his head numbly. "Th-that's not true…"

"What do you mean?" Auron asked, "You lied about that?"

"Yes, I lied… That's because I didn't wanna say what really happened… N-not yet..."

"Maybe we should get Aulin and the others over," Raine suggested, "They'll need to know that you might know their new teammate."

"Fuck it, call them over. It's more people to call me a freak after I explain it all…"Jace said, trying not to meet his team's gaze.

"Jace, don't call yourself a freak," Alyss told him while Raine texted the others, "Whatever it is… we'll try to understand."

"Thanks for the thought…" Jace replied, his ears flattening against his head.

After a few moments, Aulin arrived. After the message saying Jace might know something bad about her new teammate, she rushed over wearing a pair of shorts and a messily thrown-on t-shirt. She saw Jace sitting on the floor, looking terrified out of his mind.

"The others are in the cafeteria. What's wrong?" Aulin asked everyone.

"Jace thinks that Alex is part of the family that… did _something_ to him." Raine answered.

Aulin furrowed her eyebrows. "But… he's an orphan like me. He doesn't have a family."

Jace grunted at the news. "Well… there's a reason for that if what I'm thinking is right…"

"What do you mean?" Auron asked.

"H-he could be my brother. If he is… then he was born before our parents were sent to prison," Jace was barely audible with how low he was talking, "They already tried replacing me before they sent me off…"

"Put in prison… For what?" Alyss asked him.

Jace rose from the floor and trudged over to his desk. He dug through the lowest drawer and brought out the journal he had kept away from them.

 _"I guess I have no choice but to tell them now…"_

He walked back over to the table and put the journal on it. "Go to the marked pages…" He said, then he went to sit on his bed, away from them.

"Th-they… They sent me off to be experimented on... They _sold_ me…" Jace said quietly, "Some scientist paid them and they just sent me off to be a damn rat. They put… Th-they put dust in me… that's why my arm was burned. I was practicing with it… A-and… I'm not really a Faunus…"

Auron was the first to open the journal as Alyss and Raine looked at Jace in shock. "Not a real Faunus… how is that possible? You have the ears and tail, though." Raine said in disbelief.

"That's 'cause they put Faunus DNA in 'im," Auron said uncomfortably, "They put that an' all types o' dust in 'im. They had to forcefully unlock his aura to take the dust. It's got a list of a whole lotta failures before 'im too."

"How could a person do something like that?" Alyss asked in shock.

"There's sick fucks in this world," Aulin said lowly, "Some are worse than others…"

"Wait a sec..." Auron said as he curiously flipped a page backwards, seeing a familiar name, "Genesis Galloway? Ain't he your adoptive brother?" He asked Jace.

Jace nodded slowly. "I didn't know about it until after we met... He was kidnapped. Then, they got me. We both went through the same hell and we have the same abilities..."

"And they put Faunus DNA in 'im too," Auron said, reading a bit further into the page, "They wanted to..." His eyes widened, "Good fuckin' Oum!" He exclaimed and tossed the journal onto the table, "They wanted to put Grimm DNA in 'em too."

"What!?" The three girls exclaimed, then they immediately held their mouths shut after realising their yell.

"After I seen that, I didn't see anything else. Everything after that part an' after Jace's page is blank." Auron said,

"Jace…" Alyss turned around to look at the silent boy, "What happened?"

"The police and a few Huntsmen and Rangers raided the labs and freed us… W-we were the only survivors..." Jace almost whimpered, "The scientist was executed in secret and my parents were put in prison for life. After awhile, I was put up for adoption and Gen was returned to his parents, and a month later, their home was destroyed. I got taken in by this real nice family when I was seven… then I grew ears one night…"

"Y-you wanna know what they called me as soon as they saw my ears the next morning? _Lusus naturae_. You know what that means?" Jace asked as tears came from his eyes, streaking heavily down his face.

"Freak of nature…" Auron answered quietly, "It's old Mistralian. Pretty rare to hear it used."

"And that… That hurt so much… Then they put me on the street… they left me to die alone," Jace cried as he shook his head more, not meeting their eyes, "After a few more months, I grew the tail and I was called a freak even fucking more by people on the streets… People calling a little kid a freak of nature… I didn't know what to do and I barely survived…"

"Oh my fucking Oum…" Aulin said and looked down.

"Then… then that's when dad found me… Haile Reznor," Jace continued, giving a small smile at mentioning his father, "He took me to his house and both him and Genesis made me feel accepted. After awhile, I took Reznor as my last name and put the Storms and whoever the fuck the others were in the past… then General Ironwood gave dad the journal. Dad gave it to me after a few years because Gen said he didn't want anything to do with it. I read through it and I started to understand what happened to us. Then we trained with the dust and kept everything a big secret until now…"

"So… Your birth parents, who need to burn in hell, sent you to be used as a lab rat. They sold you," Aulin started as she started to understand everything she had heard, "They put dust and Faunus DNA in you and you're a cat Faunus because of it. They got busted, the scientist is burning in hell, your birth parents are hopefully rotting in prison, and your first adoptive parents kicked you out. Then Haile found you and now you're here?"

"That's basically it…" Jace said.

"That's fuckin' hell, man… I'm sorry."

"Really? You don't think I'm a freak because of all of this?" Jace asked, not even raising his gaze to meet theirs.

"Hell no. You were dealt a shitty hand in life. There's no way on Remnant's shattered moon I can judge you. _No one_ can." Aulin replied.

There were several moments of silence as Jace looked down at the floor. He heard some movement at the table and after a few seconds, a soft hand was placed between his ears. Slender fingers started rubbing and scritching his ears and he looked up to see who it was.

Alyss.

"Wh-wha…?"

"Jace, I don't think of you any differently," She spoke softly as she looked at him with tears in her eyes, "It's no one's place to judge you or call you a freak. I don't care that you have dust inside of you. And I don't give a damn that it wasn't natural, you're a Faunus like me or Raine or any other Faunus."

"You're really calling me a Faunus after what you heard?" Jace asked lowly, sounding almost like a scared child.

"Of course I am," Alyss answered him, " No, it's not natural, but you _are_ a Faunus."

"Listen, I ain't much of a thinker," Auron said, scratching his head, "This is somethin' that has a lot o' different things to it. I'm not gonna overthink it. I met you an' you were a Faunus an' you're still a Faunus to me now. The dust, I don't give a shit about it. Almost everyone uses it, I don't care if it's in someone's body or not."

"You're the same person as when we met," Raine said, offering a shrug, "I just know more about you. Doesn't change who you are."

Jace's breathing calmed as Alyss gently scritched his ears and he finally started _purring_ under the ministrations. He looked up to Alyss with tears falling down his cheeks. "Th-thank you… Thank you guys so much for accepting me after I said that…"

Alyss bent down and wrapped Jace in a light hug, still scritching his ears. "Are you okay now?" She asked softly, the tone making his ears twitch. She sat on the bed next to him and kept her hold on him.

"Getting there… Can you please just keep doing this?" Jace asked quietly.

Alyss nodded. "Yeah, I will."

Aulin grinned toward the two and turned toward Raine. "I'm gonna go back to our room. I'll tell the others so he doesn't have to."

"That would probably be best. Later, Aul." Raine said and the purple-haired girl left the room.

"I say we should get to bed now. I'm fuckin' tired." Auron suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we should." Raine agreed.

"Thank you…" Jace mumbled to everyone through his _purrs_ , "Thank you so much…"

* * *

Raine woke up the next morning before the others. She rose herself out of bed and stretched her limbs before she went to find clothes for the day. She froze when she saw Alyss' bed was empty. She looked around the room almost frantically before her ears twitched at a set of _purrs_ from behind her.

She turned and her mouth gaped open at seeing both cat Faunus in the same bed, dozing and _purring_ blissfully. Jace was curled up at Alyss' side with a content smile on his lips, his head laying on her shoulder. His tail was draped over Alyss' waist and his arms were crossed over his own chest.

 _"How in the hell did that happen?"_ She asked herself in her head before she remembered, _"Ooohhhh…"_

Jace had asked Alyss to keep scritching his ears and she had, even after Raine and Auron had laid down to sleep. Except Raine couldn't sleep, going over in her head what Jace explained and what her father told her. He never said anything about the Faunus DNA, and learning that was a complete shock. She laid in bed and heard the _purrs_ that came from Jace and heard the shifting movements on his bed as the two moved to lay down. Raine had turned over, cracking her eyes open, seeing both cat Faunus laying down next to each other. Alyss was still scritching Jace's ears even after he had drifted off to sleep. Then Raine finally fell asleep.

She grinned inwardly as she grabbed her scroll from the nightstand. She padded over toward the bed and took a quick picture of the two. She looked the picture over as she walked back to her bed.

"The hell are you doin'?"

The quiet voice startled her in the silence of the room and she looked up to see Auron staring at her in confusion, laying on his side under the covers of his bed.

"Taking a picture." She answered and quickly showed him.

"Seriously…? Why take a picture of 'em?"

"Because honestly, they might thank me for it."

Auron grunted quietly as he rolled over onto his back. "Yeah… I think they might have a thing for each other."

Raine rolled her eyes. "Ya think?"

"Let's just let 'em take it at their own pace. Don't try to push."

"I know. I'm not gonna try pushing them into something they might not really want."

"What time is it?" Auron asked tiredly.

"Seven."

Auron sighed and turned over onto his other side. "I'm goin' back to fuckin' bed."

"And I'm taking a shower." Raine said and went to find clothes to change into.

She stepped into the bathroom and stripped her night clothes from her body. She turned the shower on and sighed as she stepped under the hot water. There, she stood under the water and thought.

 _"I knew he was experimented on from what dad told me, but… I didn't know his parents sold him like that. Or that his brother went through the same thing…"_ She shook her head and pressed it against the wall, _"They were gonna splice Grimm DNA in them too…"_ That thought was just sick and it made her want to throw up, _"Damn it, why can't we just be in peace…"_ She sighed as her ears flicked against the falling water, _"Poor guys. I can't imagine what hell they went through. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna treat them differently. Thanks for giving me all that time to think about it, dad…"_

* * *

A few hours later, Raine was sitting at her desk, looking at her bow and arrows and Auron had woken up and was taking a shower.

 _"Maybe it would be a good idea to wake them up,"_ Raine thought to herself as she looked over to the sleeping Faunus, _"They look so peaceful though."_

She sighed and stood from her seat. She walked over to the bed and bent down to nudge both their shoulders. "Guys, time to get up. It's ten thirty."

Both of them groaned and opened their eyes slowly. They looked up to Raine in confusion for a few moments before they turned to each other, immediately separating.

"U-Umm…" Alyss stuttered as she stared at Jace.

"I-um… I-I don't…" Jace just stared back at her, "H-how… Wh-why were we sleeping in the same bed?"

"Hey," Raine said to him, "She was scritching your ears and you both just fell asleep. You told us all that last night, remember?"

Jace nodded slowly and looked back to Alyss. "Yeah… right… Thanks for that, Alyss."

She nodded and gave a very shy smile as she blushed furiously. "Y-yeah… You're welcome. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah… I am."

"Okay, get up and get ready," Raine told them both, "We have to go meet your mom today." She said to Alyss.

"Yeah, you do," Alyss said and stood from the bed, "We can wait here for a little bit before we go. It's gonna be a surprise for her later."

"Maybe it would be nice to talk about why we're becoming Huntsmen." Jace suggested quietly.

"That'll kill some time and we can learn more about each other," Raine said with a grin, "Yeah, we can do that."

"It would be really nice." Alyss agreed.

* * *

After everyone had taken their showers, they all sat around the table. "So, who's first?" Jace asked.

"I'll go," Alyss offered and everyone looked to her, "Okay… When I was training one day after my aura was unlocked, I misstepped and my ankle twisted and got sprained. That's when I discovered my semblance. After that, I just decided that I want to help people. I want to basically be a combat medic. I want to help people with their injuries that they might get against Grimm or even on the streets. When Jax offered to train me for a bit, I offered to heal his eye in return before he left,"

"And with my semblance, I get tired the more I use it. When I healed his eye, it took four days and I was asleep for a few days. Why I want to be a Huntress is because I want to help people any way I can. I can go to more places and help more people by doing this, so that's why."

"I definitely appreciate it." Jace said with a warm smile.

"Umm…" Auron started and looked at her, "I've been havin' problems with my knee. Had 'em since I was a kid. Would you care to look at it for me?"

"Of course," Alyss told him, "You could probably scoot back and prop your leg up on the table."

Auron nodded and did as she suggested. He rolled his right pant leg up so his knee was visible. "Short version is that a Beowulf just ran onto our property when I was I kid. I was playin' outside an' mom an' dad were inside. I screamed when I saw it but before dad got out there it clawed my knee up bad. It was broke an' it had a couple o' muscle tears. He had to get my aura unlocked early to help with the healin'."

"That scar looks horrible." Jace observed.

"Why didn't you ask before?" Alyss asked him as she started pulsing her semblance through his knee.

"I know what you said, but I just felt like I'd be takin' advantage of you." Auron answered her.

"Well stop thinking that," She said with a smile, "Like I said. I'll never mind."

After a few moments, Alyss had fully healed Auron's knee of its troubles. He moved it around before he set his foot on the floor. "That feels a whole lot better already."

"Now, does anyone else have any injuries that they're hiding from me?" She asked them all and everyone shook their heads, "Good."

"I'll go next since you did that," Auron said and gave a bit of a grin, "Kinda simple, but I'm mostly doin' this to be what my dad never was. He left Shade way back when from when the headmaster rigged a tournament, keepin' 'im from winnin'."

"Oh I heard about that," Alyss said, "That was thirty years ago. Headmistress Blaine made it a point to teach the students about what happened."

"Good. Anyway, he moved all the way to Mistral after knockin' the shit outta the headmaster. But yeah, I'm gonna be a Huntsman for the both of us."

"That's a good reason," Jace said with a grin, "Me… I'm sure you can guess it after I told you guys the truth. And I still can't thank you enough for accepting me."

"You don't have to keep thanking us." Alyss told him.

"I'm probably gonna do it a lot anyway," Jace smiled at her again, "I'm doing this because I want to keep that from ever happening to anyone else ever again. From what I read, there were so many people that suffered and me and Genesis were the only ones that survived. We have the same dream. We want to carry their hopes, whatever they were, as our burden. We want to live for all those people that went through the same hell but didn't make it. That's part of the reason I named my sword _Legacy_. We might not have known them, but we want to be their living legacy."

"I still think its amazing that you bounced back from that." Raine remarked.

"It really is," Alyss agreed, "You said I was strong, but I think you're stronger. You _and_ your brother."

That made Jace smile wide. "Thanks. Gen's had it so much worse than me. Just so soon after he got back to his mom and dad... _that_ happened. I still can never imagine what that must have been like."

"I guess I'm last," Raine said and sighed a bit, "Honestly, mine's mostly the same as Jace's. I'm a Ranger. I want to keep things like that from happening to anyone. I want to continue what my family on dad's side does. Everyone from my grandpa to my uncle, sister, and dad are Rangers. We're the only family of them. And more than anything… I want to prove that I belong with them. I don't want people looking at me thinking I'm some girl trying to live off my family's legacy. So I want to prove to every Ranger that I'm not just Halt's daughter."

"I'm sure you can do that no problem." Jace told her.

"Dad always tells me I have nothing to worry about with it, but I still think it. Kind of a hard thing to get out of my head."

"Hey, you done got one Ranger thinkin' you're pretty damn great an' that's Vivi," Auron said, making Raine blush, "I don't really know what to say, but I'm damn sure you can handle the pressure."

Raine gave a small smile as she bowed her head. "I appreciate it… Thanks."

"You really don't have to worry about what anyone else thinks to you," Alyss said, "All you need to do is focus."

"Yeah. Focus. I just need to focus…" Raine replied quietly, looking down to the floor as she crossed her arms.

 _"Auron… why'd you have to bring up Vivi?"_ She thought to herself.

"Alright!" Alyss said in excitement, "Let's all get ready. I wanna see mom's face when I show up with three people."


	10. Chapter 10: Meeting The Mama Cat

**Chapter Ten**

 **Meeting the Mama Cat**

"I say we all take my truck," Auron suggested as they stepped off the airbus, "With the lien I saved from the tournaments, I bought my own. Dual cab. It's got enough room in the cab for everyone."

"I appreciate it, but I kinda wanna drive my motorcycle around," Jace said, "I don't want it to just sit there."

"That's fine. Offer still stands though."

"You letting your tail be free today?" Alyss asked, seeing the dark-red appendage swaying behind Jace as he walked.

"Yeah, it's been awhile since that idiot grabbed it so I'm calming down about it." Jace answered her.

"I-um… I kinda wanna ride your motorcycle too," Alyss said quietly, "I've never ridden a motorcycle before and I've been wanting to try."

"Sure. I don't mind." Jace said to her.

 _"Face it, Jace. You really, really like her,"_ Jace's mind told him, _"Why else would you want her riding Titan other than the feeling of her arms around you?"_

"Awesome. Would you have another helmet though?" Alyss asked him.

"O-oh, yeah. I brought a spare from home." Jace answered her and went back to his thoughts.

 _"Fucking hell… I met her two weeks ago. Why do I like her so much?"_ He asked himself, _"Well… one reason could be because she's so sweet and kind. Then there's the fact that she healed my arm without me even asking or knowing about her semblance. And she just calmed me down completely from that freaking panic attack or whatever it was last night. And those eyes are just so pretty…"_

"Where's your house at anyway, Alyss?" Raine asked.

"I can't really explain it. I'd have to just show you," Alyss answered her, "I guess me and Jace can take the lead."

"That would be easier." Auron agreed.

"How long would we be staying?" Jace asked.

"I don't know. We could stay all night if you guys want." Alyss said rather hopefully.

"I don't mind." Jace said quickly.

"Yeah, it'll be nice." Raine agreed.

"Why not?" Auron said, "I mean, we ain't got classes until the day after tomorrow. Plus I'm sure you wanna stay in your new house for as long as you can."

"Yeah, that's true," Alyss gave a smile, "Thanks. Maybe mom can fix us some fish."

"I'm more of a chicken guy." Auron said.

"Same," Raine said with a grin, "Chicken is great."

"I'm up for fish," Jace said, "Do you think your mom has apples? I forgot to bring a couple to eat."

After a while longer, they reached the storage lockups. Auron went to find his truck while the others went to one of the larger garages. Jace unlocked the door with his scroll and opened it up to reveal only one motorcycle.

 _"Huh. I guess Yang's out doing something."_ Jace thought as he rolled _Titan_ out of the building.

"So that's your motorcycle?" Alyss asked.

"Yeah. This is _Titan_ ," Jace answered and went to grab the helmets, "Gen built it himself. And don't ask about the snow tires. Gods those chains are a pain to take off and put back on, so I'm leaving them on for now."

"Makes sense," Raine said and turned as Auron pulled his truck over to them, "I'd say we can go now," She gave a grin toward Alyss, "Get ready for the vibrations, Alyss."

"What do you mean by that?" Alyss asked and Raine just laughed as she walked toward the right side of the truck.

"What does she mean?" She asked Jace.

"I… don't know. Here's your helmet," Jace said and handed her the dark purple helmet, "I'm sure it's nothing. But be ready for the noise too. It's pretty loud."

* * *

"Raine… why didn't you warn me?" Alyss asked the fox Faunus as she leaned against Auron's truck in the parking lot, blushing heavily as her body calmed down.

"I _did_ warn you." Raine snickered.

"You told me to watch out for the vibrations, not what would happen!" Alyss almost hissed a her, "I don't think I want my first time to be taken by a motorcycle!"

"Can we not talk about this out in the open?" Jace said, blushing almost as much as Alyss, "I didn't know this would happen either because I never gave anyone any rides on Titan, let alone any women. Kinda really embarrassing for me too because I feel so fucking awkward!" He whisper-yelled.

 _"Yeah, this is exactly what I don't fucking want right now! I'm sitting here, trying to straighten out my thoughts about Alyss and then this happens! I don't want awkward and I don't need that right now!"_

"Hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later," Raine said with a knowing grin, "What, with you wanting to ride a motorcycle and all."

"Are you children about done?" Auron asked in amusement.

"I'll be done when my body is." Alyss answered briskly.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't warn you about that," Raine told her, softening her teasing tone, "It happened to me when I first rode a motorcycle, so I know exactly how you feel."

Alyss sighed. "You could've just told me so I could be ready…"

"That didn't help me when my friend told me. Sorry, Alyss."

Alyss sighed. "It's okay... At least I know now."

After a few more moments of Alyss resting, the group finally made their way down the street toward her home. Alyss groaned as she realized something. "Great… I probably smell like I just had sex…"

"I had to read about this stuff because dad and Gen didn't know much of anything about Faunus. Scents are weird. You might wanna clear this up with your mom as soon as we get there," Jace said and offered a small grin, "She'll probably be wondering…"

"I know… It's gonna be so weird."

"It's not that bad of a scent. To me at least." Raine assure her.

"Maybe not to you, but mom's nose is really sensitive." Alyss informed her.

"I don't know enough about scents to say anything." Auron said for himself.

"Basically, if you have sex, then the scent of the hormones will linger around," Jace explained, "You know how awkward it was for me to read that?"

"Ah. Faunus can't hide anything from their parents, can they?" Auron asked with a grin.

"I wouldn't know about this. Emowyn told me that it _is_ hard." Raine answered.

"People in Atlas are assholes and my dad isn't a Faunus," Jace said, "I wouldn't know about either really."

"Yeah… I never had a problem with it either, unless…" Alyss shook her head quickly, "Never mind!"

After thirty minutes of walking, they finally reached the house Alyss led them to. It had a short walkway up to it on a slight incline of ground.

"The smell isn't as bad now if that helps." Jace said to Alyss.

"Not with mom's nose, it doesn't." Alyss said.

They walked up the short cobblestone path and reached the door. Alyss knocked on it and they all waited patiently. After a few moments, the door was opened by an aging, black and gray-haired cat Faunus with bright emerald-colored eyes.

"Aly!" She exclaimed and stepped forward to hug Alyss.

"Hi mom! I want you to meet my team." Alyss said as she returned the hug.

"First… I want you to tell me why you smell like you just did… _something_." The woman said as the two separated, raising her eyebrow at her daughter and making her blush.

"Umm, she rode my motorcycle with me here, ma'am." Jace said.

"And I kinda didn't warn her that she might… you know…" Raine added.

"I had nothin' to do with it." Auron piped up.

"I'm just not used to riding motorcycles is all." Alyss told her mother.

Her face lightened to a welcoming smile. "It's alright, cub. Come in everyone. And please, leave your shoes or boots at the door." She told them all and everyone entered the home. They all did as she requested and left their footwear where they entered.

"You already got your flowers set up?" Alyss asked as her mother led them trough the house to the living room. The stairs to the second floor were to the right of the entrance to the house.

"Yes, I did. Everything was moved in quickly and I spent the last two weeks setting everything up." Her mother answered as they entered the living room.

In the center of the room were two couches and a soft-looking chair surrounding a small coffee table. The middle couch was facing the wall where the vidcaster sat and a fireplace was to the left side of the room, the entrance on the right. More plants and flowers hung from the ceiling around the room. Pictures and paintings lined the walls of different things. The paintings offered beautiful looking rivers, foggy mountains, vibrant fields of flowers, and lush forests. A few pictures showed Alyss and her mother throughout different stages of the young Faunus' life. Jace felt more drawn to those pictures and to a certain set of eyes.

Jace and Alyss sat down on one couch while Auron and Raine sat on the other. Alyss' mother sat down in the chair and regarded her daughter's teammates. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Lilith Wystar. Since Aly's last team, I grew fond of them calling me ' _mom_ '. I would be happy if you called me the same, if you would like to."

"I'm Jace Reznor."

"Raine Daturas. Apprentice Ranger."

"Auron Karmine." They all introduced themselves.

"It's nice to meet you three. Has Alyss told you about why we came here?" Lilith asked them.

"Yeah, she did," Jace answered, "And we understand. If he comes back again, then we'll be here for her and you. I don't want you guys to have to move again and put yourselves through that stress."

Lilith gave a warm smile. "Thank you. I appreciate the thought.

"I'm gonna go take a shower and hopefully get this smell washed off of me," Alyss said and stood up, "Are my extra clothes in my room?"

"Yes, they are." Lilith answered.

"And… where is my room?"

"Up the stairs. Second door on the right."

"And the bathroom?"

Lilith let out a laugh. "Left from here down the hallway and on the right. Or the first door on the left up the stairs."

"Thanks, mom." Alyss said and left the room.

Lilith smiled and turned back to the others. "So, you three are her new team?"

"Yeah. Me and Auron transferred in too." Jace answered.

"Oh? If you don't mind me asking, what were your reasons?"

"Well, me an' my old team fought a Geist an' lost," Auron answered for himself, "They all dropped out an' Lionheart an' Ozpin gave me the opportunity to come to Beacon."

"My old teammate grabbed my tail. It felt like he would pull it off," Jace said and rubbed the back of his neck, "That's basically my reason. Ironwood understood that I didn't want to be anywhere near him after that and Ozpin accepted the transfer."

"Oh, so you're the boy with both ears and a tail? I didn't even notice, honestly."

Jace nodded and gave a small grin, moving his tail around to his front. "I feel like a novelty at this point with how much I show it."

"I believe it makes you very interesting," Lilith said, "Thank you all for understanding our situation."

"No problem," Auron said, "No one should have to move around like that."

"And I know what it feels like," Jace said, "You would have to ask Alyss about that. I don't feel like saying it again… I told them all about it last night."

"Okay. I'll ask her later. How long are you four staying?" Lilith asked.

"All night if that's alright." Raine answered.

Lilith gave a wide smile and a nod. "Of course it is. Any friend of my little cub is welcome here."

"Thank you… mom." Jace grinned as he said it.

"If you don't mind me askin', why do you call her ' _cub_ '?" Auron asked.

"That's because she is my daughter. Any type of cat or bear Faunus parent usually calls their child that." Lilith answered.

"It's like when my parents or uncle calls me ' _pup_ '." Raine added.

"Now I ain't gonna be confused by it." Auron said.

"Since I was adopted, dad never called me that. I don't think he really knew what Faunus parents called their kids." Jace said, sighing a bit.

"You were adopted?" Lilith asked softly.

"Yeah." Jace nodded

"Oh, well… If you want, I can call you that." Lilith offered.

"I'm not against it, really. I mean, I'm calling you mom, right?" Jace replied.

"Alright then," Lilith smiled, "I'll call you cub, and if you don't mind, I'll call you pup." She said the last part to Raine.

Raine smiled. "Sure. I don't mind it."

"Don't know where that leaves me," Auron said, "Mom an' dad always just called me son or just by my name."

"I'll think of something. I don't want you to be left out." Lilith told him.

Auron nodded and smiled. "I like ghost pepper, so maybe that'll help."

"It might. I think I should show you to the guest room, unless you want to be sleeping on the couches." Lilith told them all.

"That would be best, I think." Raine agreed.

Lilith stood and led them through the house. They walked up the stairs and she showed them to the guest room. It had two beds separated by a long dresser against the wall on the left, then there was a small table against the other wall with a small vidcaster. On the far side from the door was a large window overlooking the street.

"I'm sorry there isn't another bed," Lilith told them, "One of you may have to sleep on a couch anyway."

"I don't mind it, really," Jace volunteered, "You guys can sleep in here. The couch is actually pretty soft."

"If you're sure you want to." Lilith said.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay. I'm going to start on dinner. It'll be fish."

"I'm sure that makes both Alyss and Jace happy." Raine remarked.

"I'm already happy," Jace said, "What would make it better is apples."

"He really likes apples." Auron told Lilith.

Lilith _hummed_ as she grinned. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"You need some help with food?" Auron asked, "I can help if you need it."

"I'll be fine, thank you. You three can go watch what you want on the vidcaster in the living room."

"I wanna talk to you for a minute if you don't mind." Jace said to Lilith.

"I don't mind, cub." Lilith smiled. The two left the room and walked slowly down the hall.

"What did you want to talk about?" Lilith asked.

"It's about Alyss." Jace said a bit nervously.

They stopped in the hall and Lilith looked at him. "What about my little cub?"

"I just want to say she's the best person I've met since I got to Vale." Jace told her.

"Really?" Lilith asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Because she's just so sweet. My arm was burned really badly right before I came from Atlas. After we met in our dorm room, she healed it for me and I didn't even ask."

"She has always been such a kind little kitten." Lilith said with a wide smile as the two started walking again. They continued down the stairs as Jace continued talking.

"Then last night… I-I had a bad childhood. Alyss says that I had it worse than when you both dealt with… _him_ ," Jace sighed, "But I told everyone about it and I had some kind of panic attack and she just scritched my ears and calmed me down completely. No one in my life was able to calm me down like that, that quickly. Not even dad or my brother. She ended up sleeping in my bed after comforting me. I'm… I'm so glad I was able to meet her…" They arrived to the kitchen where they stopped walking.

Lilith _hummed_ as she looked Jace in the eyes. "Jace, do you like her?"

Jace paused as he thought over the question. "Do I… like her?" He echoed out loud.

"You know… Do you love her?"

"I…" Jace bit his lip as he tried to think it over.

 _"Huh… do I love her… Yes. I honestly think I love her. I met her two weeks ago but she's been so kind. She comforted me so easily…"_

"I think I do…" Jace finally answered quietly.

"Even after only knowing her for two weeks?" Lilith asked softly.

"Y-yeah…"

Lilith noticed the hesitation in his voice and sighed. "I won't tell you not to ask her. But I _will_ say to think it over. See if what you think is real."

"I _do_ think it's real, though," Jace said, "I've have this feeling in my chest now since I met her. Like I want to be close to her. I really think I love her…"

"Hmm… I won't tell Alyss about this," Lilith told him, "You need to be the one to tell her if you want to."

"I would, but… I don't know if she feels the same way…"

"It's okay. Don't force it out."

"Thanks for understanding."

Lilith gave a warm smile. "I hope you can work through your feelings."

"Yeah… me too."


	11. Chapter 11: Just a Little Cub

**Chapter Eleven**

 **Just a Little Cub**

Alyss stood in the bathroom as she toweled her body off. She finished her shower quickly and was just drying herself off. She hoped she had gotten that smell off of her with the shower. The water cascading over her body also helped her think, and she had a good amount to think about.

 _"Why did I sleep in Jace's bed last night?"_ She asked herself in her head, _"Yeah, he asked me to keep scritching his ears but he fell asleep first… I could've went to my bed but I just stayed…"_

She put the now-wet towel in a hamper and slipped on a pair of simple black panties and a pair of comfortable dark-purple sweatpants.

 _"I really enjoyed laying there with him. I don't know why…"_

She heard her mother's voice outside in the hall and she tilted her head. It sounded like it was just down the hall.

"What about my little cub?"

Alyss froze at that. _"What about me?"_

 _"I shouldn't listen… But these ears make it so hard not to…"_

"I just want to say she's the best person I've met since I got to Vale."

 _"Jace? He thinks I'm the best he's met?"_ Alyss repeated the words in her head as she smiled.

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"Because she's just so sweet. My arm was burned really badly right before I came from Atlas. After we met in our dorm room, she healed it for me and I didn't even ask."

Alyss smiled even more widely at the words that Jace said. _"He thinks I'm the best person he's met… Why does that make me so happy?"_

"She had always been such a kind little kitten."

Alyss giggled quietly and shook her head. Her mother always said that about her, no matter who she was talking to. If Alyss' name was mentioned, Lilith always said she was a kind or sweet kitten. It always made Alyss smile to hear her mother say that.

"You raised me to be sweet and kind." Alyss said quietly.

She pulled on a black t-shirt and worked to dry her hair and ears more with a new towel.

 _"I want to just… be able to hold him… I want to hold him and love him…"_

She waited for the blush on her cheeks to cool down before she padded out barefooted into the hall. She walked down the stairs and went to the living room to see that her friends were there sitting on the couches.

"Hey, I don't smell anything now.." Raine told her.

"Good. Hopefully mom doesn't. I don't want it to bother her." Alyss said.

"Man, I feel kinda awkward bein' the only human here." Auron said as he crossed his arms.

"Heath felt that way at first too," Alyss said and took a seat on a couch, which happened to be with Jace, "She warmed up fast though."

"Hey, at least me an' her ain't racist." Auron grinned.

"That's definitely a good thing," Raine said, "If you were, you might be hanging off the edge of Beacon's cliff."

"That'd be a pretty strange sight," Jace remarked. He felt his scroll buzz in his pocket and pulled it out to check the message. He sighed and shook his head, "If I would've thought to, I would've brought my movie here so we could watch it."

"Is that what that text was about?" Alyss asked him.

"Yeah, Gen asked me if I brought it with me. Kinda didn't tell him."

"Does he like it too or something?" Raine asked.

"It's both our favorite movie. It would keep us busy all day considering it's ten hours."

Auron laughed a bit. "Ten hours? The hell kind of a movie is it?"

"It's more of a compilation of four movies," Jace said, "Each one is about two or three or maybe four hours long. It's an adaptation of my favorite games as a kid."

"We'll find something to watch, I'm sure," Alyss said and looked to him, "You'll have to show us sometime."

"I will. You guys might like it." Jace smiled.

Alyss nodded as a blush came to her cheeks at the smile. "Where's mom at?" She asked everyone, "Fixing dinner?"

"Yeah. You're getting your fish." Raine answered.

"Awesome. I'm gonna go talk to her." Alyss said and left the couch.

"If you have apples, can you bring me one?" Jace asked her.

"If we have some, I will." Alyss answered.

She left the room and walked down the hallway to the left. She reached the kitchen at the end of the hall and saw her mother working with cutting up tuna and chicken at the large oval table in the center. She looked up as her ears twitched and smiled. "Hello, cub. That smell is gone, thankfully."

"That's good. I'm sorry about that, still." Alyss said as she walked up to the table.

"It's okay. It was just a strange situation."

"It really was. Are you... okay?" Alyss asked, "You look really tired."

"It's just that I have a little headache now," Lilith assured her daughter, "You know they make me look tired."

"Yeah... when it's a real bad one... You're downplaying it," Alyss accused her, tilting her head a bit, "Really, mom. How bad is it?"

Lilith looked away as she stopped cutting the meat. "It... hurts so much. I can hardly think straight right now, to be honest."

"...Is it because of that smell?"

Lilith sighed. "Yes, it _is_ because of that, dear."

Alyss looked down. "I'm sorry..." She said quietly.

"It's fine, cub. Really," Lilith assured her, "I'll get over it soon."

"I hope so."

"Your new team is as friendly as Sapphire and the others. I'm sure they would've defended you if they could too." Lilith said, changing the topic from the one that obviously made her daughter uncomfortable, although she knew it probably wasn't the best of changes.

"I know… I don't wanna have to move again if he comes back." Alyss said quietly.

"Neither do I, cub."

"I'm gonna train and be better so I can defend us. So no one else has to." Alyss sighed as she slumped into a chair, resting her arms on the table.

Lilith offered a small smile. "And you will, I'm sure of it. Jace told me to ask you about what happened to him as a child. To make you say he went through more than you."

"He wants me to tell you?" Alyss asked.

"He told me he didn't feel like saying it again. It must weigh a lot on him."

"It does…" Alyss sighed, "His birth parents… they sold him…"

* * *

"Oh… he says they are their living legacy?" Lilith echoed at what Alyss told her.

"Yeah. They want to carry their hopes as their burden since they were the only survivors." Alyss answered.

"They went through so much…" Lilith sighed as she worked on chopping the last bit of tuna, "Maybe Jace _has_ had it worse than we have. Poor cub…"

"He'll be glad to know you still think of him as a Faunus. He doesn't like having to call himself that because it isn't natural."

"Like you said you told him, he is as much a Faunus as we are considering his biology was changed."

"And you're calling him ' _cub_ ', too?" Alyss asked her mother, hoping to change the subject again. Even though Jace wanted her to, she just didn't feel comfortable talking about his childhood hell.

Lilith smiled. "You're not jealous are you, my Little Kitten?"

Alyss shook her head with a returning smile. "No. I'm just curious."

"Well, he told me his adoptive father never called him that due to not knowing what a Faunus calls their child. I offered to call him that to be nice. I'm calling Raine ' _pup_ ' and I'll be calling Auron ' _pepper_ '."

Alyss giggled at the name. "Why pepper?"

"He told me he likes ghost pepper." Lilith grinned.

"That fits," Alyss said with one last giggle, "I made a lot of new friends in the last two weeks. There's team SLVA, JNPR, RWBY, and CFVY. And someone from Mistral named Sun. The professors are nice and it's easy to get around."

"That's good. I'm glad you're meeting so much friendly people."

"We all even sparred with SLVA. I lost my match but the others won."

"And they're nice people?"

"Yeah. Me and a member of their team, Bell Vonas, got to be fast friends. We both think the same way about helping people."

"And you already helped someone greatly," Lilith said softly, "Jace told me you healed his arm. You didn't even know him a full day."

"Yeah…" Alyss blushed a bit at the thought of him, "I just wanted to help him."

"Hmm…" Lilith _hummed_ and looked at her daughter curiously, "What do you think about him?"

Alyss froze at the question. "What do I think…?" Alyss echoed quietly, "I think he's awesome, really. I mean, the others are too, but… he's just on another level…"

Lilith put all of the chopped fish and chicken into a frying pan and turned the burner on under it. "What do you mean?"

"When I told them all about why we moved, I had some kind of panic attack and I got really scared that _he_ might come back. Jace was the first one to comfort me. He hugged me and scritched my ears without even hesitating. I know I asked them to scritch my ears sometimes, but Raine didn't immediately do it like Jace did."

"And that calmed you down?"

Alyss nodded. "It really did. After that… I don't know…"

"He told me about what you did for him with his panic attack," Lilith said and sat down at the head of the table, "How you comforted him until he fell asleep."

"Y-yeah, I did…" Alyss blushed as she looked away, "I didn't want to see him break down and worry like I did. I just did what my heart told me to do. I scritched his ears and he fell asleep after awhile and…" She hesitated and bit her lip.

"And you slept in his bed with him." Lilith finished for her.

Alyss gulped hard as the blush on her cheeks intensified. "Yeah… I did…"

"Aly, do you like him?"

The question made Alyss bite her lip harder. "Y-yeah, I like him…"

"Do you love him?"

Alyss paused at the question and she thought to herself.

 _"Do I…? I want to say yes but… we just met two weeks ago. That's too fast to know if I love him… Is it too fast? No… I don't think that matters. He comforted me the most out of anyone that day. And I just decided to sleep in his bed with him…"_

"I…" Alyss whispered, "I think I love him…"

"Are you sure?"

"Maybe, I don't know…" Alyss shook her head, "It's just been two weeks though. Is that even long enough to decide something like that?"

Lilith moved out of her seat and she gave Alyss a soft hug. "I don't think it matters. If two people share a connection like that, they just know. When I first met your father…" She winced at her daughter jumping a bit at the mention of him, "I felt a connection. But… his mind grew unstable after a bad mission and he truly left us. If you feel that you love Jace so soon after meeting him, then it may very well be your true feelings."

"What do I do?" Alyss asked as she hugged back.

"Well, I would tell him. But take it at your own pace," Lilith kissed Alyss on the side of the head, "Just listen to your heart."

"That's such a mom thing to say…" Alyss mumbled.

"It's all I _can_ say." Lilith laughed lightly.

"Thanks for the talk… I'll try to talk to him sometime."

Lilith nodded and kissed Alyss between her ears, making her _purr_ a bit. "You are always going to be my little cub. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I know, mama. I'm always your cub."

* * *

Alyss laid in bed staring at the ceiling, mulling over the thoughts and feelings inside her. It was two in the morning. Everyone had gone to bed at twelve after watching a series of six fantasy movies. The first three were about a wizard and a halfling helping a group of dwarves retake their home. The next three were about destroying a piece of jewelry, a ring specifically. Alyss couldn't remember the name of them all, but it had been fun and interesting.

She couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't clear her mind enough for it. She just kept thinking about the other cat Faunus of her team.

 _"I love him… I think I actually really love him…"_

Those words kept repeating in her head over and over. After she had talked with her mother, she just couldn't suppress the feeling in her heart that she loved him. It was overwhelming, but not in a bad way. Except for the fact she was staying awake because of it. The thought of Jace just made her so happy. The fact that he thought she was the best person he had met in Beacon had made her happy beyond belief, and now she knew why. She was so glad she met him.

She just didn't know if she should tell him.

She was nervous of course. Nervous about how if Jace returned her love and they broke up later on, then if that would tear the team apart. That would most likely cause them to fall behind in classwork and fail. Worse than that, their friendship could end. And that may cause them all to just transfer to new teams once more, a thought that hurt to think.

But, more than anything, she was worried. Worried that it might cause the others to drift apart from them. Worried about how she may be taking things too fast. Worried about what they would face together as a couple, whether it be bullies, envious students, or very nosy students.

Deathly worried that he might not reciprocate her feelings.

That thought scared her. What if she told him and he didn't feel the same way? What if that caused a rift between them both? What if Jace didn't even feel that way about women? What if he just wasn't looking for a relationship at all?

What if it made him not want to be near her anymore?

That thought, that last thought was what really scared her more than anything. Already, she couldn't stand the thought that he might not want to be friends with her anymore just because she told him she loved him, just because he thought she was going to be weird about it after she had confessed. The thought, the horrifying thought, made her eyes start to water.

She blinked away the tears and shook her head. No, she could tell Jace wouldn't be like that. He just didn't seem like the type to abandon a friend for any reason. He was too kind to do that to her just because they felt differently about each other. But still, the doubt remained in her mind. It still nagged at her, making her worry anyways.

She sighed and got out of bed, hoping a glass of milk or water would help her sleep. She exited her room and navigated the hall, down the stairs, and toward the kitchen. She stopped when she looked in the living room, seeing Jace sitting on the couch with his head back and staring at the ceiling. She saw through her enhanced night vision that he looked like he was thinking.

She forgot about the reason she left her room and she stepped into the living room. Jace heard her and looked over to her. "Can't sleep?" He asked.

Alyss shook her head. "What about you?"

"Nope. I just can't get something off my mind."

Alyss walked over and sat on the couch next to him. "Same here. I've been awake for two hours."

"I got an hour of sleep at least. I woke up and now I just can't sleep," Jace gave a long sigh as he returned his gaze to the ceiling, "Y'know… hardly anyone ever even talked to me in Atlas… Either they were so focused on who had more money or who looked the best or what race someone was…"

"So… most of the people ignored you?" Alyss asked softly.

"Yeah. The only people that I was friends with were team APCT. They were nothing like anyone in Atlas. There were two other people, Flynt and Neon, that were nice too but… we just never talked or saw each other a whole lot. I… I never even felt what it was like to love someone."

That made a lump grow in Alyss throat. She swallowed past it and sighed. "N-neither have I, really. Not truly love them, at least… People back in Shade were nice, but I didn't have any real connection like that with anyone."

"No one wanted anything to do with an orphan, let alone a Faunus they considered even more of a freak. There are hardly any Faunus in Atlas at all," Jace let out another sigh, "The only one I know of now is Neon. And she's a cat Faunus too. So I was lonely, at least as far as love goes."

"You're not a freak…"

Jace sighed once more. "I really am, though… With the dust and being an unnatural Faunus with ears and a tail… I feel like a walking freak show…"

"You're not a freak!" Alyss admonished him, giving him a stern look, "Don't say that. _Please_ don't. Do you think your dad or brother or your friends back in Atlas would want to hear you say that? I hate that you say that about yourself… You went through hell and you came out of it different than everyone else. Different, yeah, but you're not a freak of nature. You're you. If you were a freak… then I honestly wouldn't care. I would still think of you the same way."

"You really don't think I'm a freak in any way?" Jace asked quietly.

"No, I don't," Alyss said, "What I do think of you is… is that…" She took a deep breath, "I think you're the best person I've met at Beacon."

Jace slowly looked to her and tilted his head. "You think I'm the best you've met here?"

Alyss nodded. "You calmed me down when I started panicking two weeks ago, when I told you guys about why we moved. You jumped in and you comforted me faster than anyone has other than mom."

"I just… I just wanted to help since you healed my arm for me…" Jace said quietly.

"And when you told us everything about you, I did the same for you because I listened to my heart and my feelings," Alyss was acutely aware that she was slowly leaning a bit closer to Jace. She immediately pulled herself back and gulped, "Y-you asked me to keep scritching and I did. And I stayed."

"Yeah… you did," Jace said, "I still can't thank you enough for doing that for me… You're the best person I've met here too."

"It was nice to be able to open up to you guys about my nature and what happened. I'm glad you guys encourage it."

"You don't know how glad I am to know you guys accept me too. From the experiments and that I was adopted. It makes me feel like I'm at home."

"That's good. That's how I feel too."

"I… I guess we should probably try to sleep, huh?" Jace asked, "Probably shouldn't stay up all night talking with school just around the corner."

"Y-yeah… That might be best…" Alyss agreed reluctantly, "G-goodnight, Jace."

"Goodnight."


	12. Chapter 12: Arrival

**Chapter Twelve**

 **Arrival**

"I'm glad you decided to come visit, Aly." Lilith said as the group of teens were about to leave her home.

"I kinda needed to see my new house and check up on you." Alyss said with a smile.

"And thanks for understanding," Jace said, "It means a lot that you think of me like a normal person."

"Of course, cub," Lilith smiled, "You don't deserve to be treated badly because you're different."

"Thanks, mom."

Lilith gave every one of them a hug, lingering on Alyss the longest. "Take good care of yourselves."

"We will. We'll take care of your daughter too." Auron said with a grin.

"I'll hold you to that, Pepper. You too, pup." Lilith told both Auron and Raine.

"You got it, mom." Raine said.

"We'll come back sometime soon," Jace said, "Maybe if we can before the tournament."

"That would be nice. Stay safe, kids."

"Bye mom. I love you." Alyss said.

"Oh you know I love you too, little cub."

They all left the house and walked down the street to where the vehicles were parked. Jace felt that feeling in him from before, much more prominent since the night before.

 _"She thinks I'm the best she met here… I can't believe that…"_

"Hey, aren't the transfer students supposed to arrive today?" Alyss asked her team.

"Oh yeah," Raine grinned, "They're supposed to be coming in through the day."

"Let's hurry back," Alyss said excitedly, "I want to be there when Saph and the others come in."

"How fast do you wanna go?" Jace asked with a small grin.

"As fast as we can, preferably," Alyss answered and glanced at him, "Why?"

"Because we can go really fast if you want."

"How do you…" Alyss started to ask before Jace activated his semblance, the wings sprouting from his back.

"Yeah, go on you two," Auron grinned, "I guess we'll catch up later."

"How fast can you even fly?" Raine asked.

"Fast enough. But I can drive _Titan_ pretty fast." Jace answered.

"Let's go, Jace. I really don't want to miss them." Alyss told him.

"Alright then," Jace said and grabbed Alyss around the waist, blushing as he did so, "Just relax."

"Okay." Alyss took a deep breath and nodded as a heavy blush lit up her cheeks.

Jace slowly lifted them both into the air and he took off down the street toward the parking lot, leaving the other two alone.

"So this is what flying feels like." Alyss remarked with a smile as the two sped through the air over the ground.

"If I didn't bring _Titan_ , then I'd fly you all the way back up to Beacon if you wanted." Jace said, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against him.

 _"Damn it… Don't let this get to you so much…"_ Jace thought to himself as the red in his cheeks intensified, _"I'm just getting her to Beacon faster so she can be ready for her friends. Yeah… That's probably the reason she wanted to fly with me."_

"Makes me wish you didn't bring it then." Alyss remarked.

Jace laughed. "Don't you wanna get used to it in case you wanna ride it again?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Gods, it's gonna be awhile…"

"Hey, after we get it locked up, I'll fly you up the rest of the way. How's that?" Jace offered.

"Sounds good. Hopefully it won't be as bad as the first time I rode it."

Jace gave another short laugh. "You'll get used to it soon enough, I'm sure."

After a few more moments, they arrived at the parking lot and landed next to _Titan_. Jace laughed once again as he took the helmets from their case. "Did you see how much people just stopped and stared at us?"

"Yeah," Alyss laughed, "I don't think they expected to see an angel flying around."

"Don't ever let Gen hear you say that," Jace laughed, "He would never let me hear the end of it if people started calling me an angel."

"Then I'll just call you Kitten or Kitty Cat or something else like that." She smiled at him, the sight making him smile in return.

"I'm… not opposed to the idea of that." Jace said quietly.

 _"God damn it, why can't I just tell her…?"_ Jace thought as he looked at her. Those beautiful emerald and sapphire-colored eyes could probably make him do anything if she just asked, " _Why can't I just tell her how I feel…?"_

"Alright, you ready to go?" He asked her as he strapped his helmet on.

She took a deep breath. "As ready as my body can be." She said and did the same.

Jace swung his leg over _Titan_ and Alyss jumped on right after him. Jace slipped his goggles on and turned to look at her. "How fast do you wanna get there?"

"As fast and safe as possible," Alyss told him, "And safe to other people."

"So… no swerving in and out of traffic?"

"No."

"I'll go fast when there's no cars. That might make the-uh… the vibrations more… _noticeable_." Jace said shyly.

"I'll accept that if we get to Beacon before Sapphire and the others." Alyss replied.

* * *

Multiple airships were in the air waiting to land and drop off passengers from all kingdoms. Jace soared over the edge of the cliff and landed a little ways away from it, setting Alyss to the ground. They drew stares from disembarking students as Jace's wings evaporated from his body, leaving silver feathers fluttering in the wind.

"Jace, you're making a scene." Alyss told him as she looked around rather nervously.

Jace looked around and saw mostly students from Haven. He didn't see any uniforms from Atlas and as far as he knew, Shade didn't have any formal uniform.

"Yeah, maybe. You wanna go take a shower to get that scent off?" Jace asked her quietly.

"That would be best. I don't want Sapphire or Zack to say something and then have Heath start teasing me." Alyss laughed and the two walked briskly toward the dorms.

"I think a few Faunus might have been looking at you rather than me." Jace remarked.

"At least no one said anything." Alyss replied.

"True. That would be rude and really none of their business."

"Yep. Let's hurry and get to the dorm."

Jace gave a grin as he thought back to something Heath had said when Alyss called before. "If we have time... we could have one of those scritching sessions that your friend suggested."

 _"Shit, why did I say that!?"_ He mentally chided himself, _"Great, now she probably thinks I'm weird-"_

"Maybe… That honestly sounds like it might be nice…" Alyss said quietly.

 _"Wait… What?"_

The two hurried through the crowd of students and soon made it back to their room. Alyss quickly took a shower to wash off any lingering scent from her ride on _Titan_ and the two sat on Jace's bed.

 _"Is this actually happening?"_ Jace asked himself in surprise in his mind.

"S-so… do you have any preferences about h-how your ears are touched?" Jace asked shyly.

"Umm…" Alyss bit her lip, "Just gently is all I can say. What about you?" She asked quietly.

"The same, I guess… I guess I don't need to tell you they're sensitive…"

"No, you don't…" Alyss gave a short sigh, "We don't really have to do this if you don't want to…"

"N-no!" Jace said perhaps far too quickly, "No… I want to do it… It sounds really relaxing."

"Okay…" Alyss reached her hands up to Jace's ears and started rubbing them both gently.

Jace started _purring_ deeply as he closed his eyes, leaning his head into the touch. He slowly reached his hand up and scritched between Alyss' ears, drawing those soothing _purrs_ from her as well.

 _"This is… so amazing…"_ Jace thought to himself, lost in the moment _, "Gods I love this so much… The feeling of my ears being rubbed is great and the sound of her purrs are just adorable… I love this so much…"_

For the next thirty minutes, they gently scritched and rubbed each other's ears. Their _purrs_ were loud and almost drowned out the sound of Alyss' scroll buzzing on the nightstand.

"I-I guess we should stop now…." Jace said.

"Yeah… Maybe we need to make a habit of this." Alyss said and reached for her scroll.

Jace just stared down at his lap. _"What did she say? Make a habit of it?"_

"M-maybe we do… It's pretty awesome." He finally replied.

Alyss smiled a bit as she checked the message she received. Then her face lightened even more. "They're here!"

"I wonder what airship they're on." Jace said as Alyss bounced from the bed.

"Sapphire said they're in the next airship that's landing. So let's hurry and go meet them!"

"I'd say we could wait for Auron and Raine too. They should be back soon," Jace gave a short laugh, "We did kinda leave them in the dust."

"Yeah, we can. I can't wait for you guys to actually meet them!" Alyss said excitedly.

"Neither can I. Let's go."

The two left the room and quickly walked down the hallway, down the stairs, and through the doors to the outside again. Jace contemplated whether or not to use his semblance to fly them over there quicker, but he decided against it. He didn't want to think about what thoughts he had before. After a while of walking, they arrived to the docks where the airship was just landing. Alyss and Jace stood twenty feet from the doors as they opened, showing the disembarking students from Shade.

Jace glanced at Alyss and saw her looking expectantly to the airship. "So, how far in there do you think-"

"Alyss!"

"Never mind." Jace grinned. There was a girl with her burnt-orange hair in two long pigtails bolting from the airship at the sight of Alyss. After another moment, the girl crashed into Alyss and hugged her tightly.

Alyss smiled and hugged the girl back. "Hi Heath! It's so good to see you!"

"You too Kitty! Gods, it's been so weird without you," Heath said and released her hold on Alyss.

"So, is this your new cat Faunus friend?" Heath asked and glanced at Jace.

"Yeah. He is," Alyss answered, "This is Jace."

"Hey there." Jace greeted.

"Hi. So Aly, is he _j_ _ust_ a friend?" Heath asked and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Y-yes Heath, just a friend." Alyss answered.

"I'm just gonna say she's the best person I've met here," Jace said, "She healed my arm and she's so friendly."

"Aww that's sweet of you, Aly," Heath smiled, "So, did you two-"

"C'mon, Heath. Quit it with the questions."

"You know you're curious too!" Heath yelled back at Zack.

"Hi Zack! Hi Saph!" Alyss greeted the final two members of the team.

"Hey there, Aly," Sapphire greeted back, "You really should catch us up on your last two weeks."

"I will," Alyss said, "Wanna grab some lunch? You guys have to be hungry."

"That would be great," Zack said and reached up to give Alyss' ears a scritch, "Good to see you again, Kitty Cat."

" _Hmm_... You too, Zack." Alyss said through a short _purr_.

"Aren't we supposed to be waiting for Auron and Raine?" Jace asked Alyss.

"Oh… yeah. I kinda forgot." Alyss said with a small grin.

Jace gave a smile. "Go ahead and go. You can catch up with them. We'll be there after they get back."

Alyss smiled, "Yeah. See you then."

"Ooh I like him," Heath whispered to Alyss as they started walking off, "He's really nice and handsome."

"Heath, don't go trying to steal Alyss' friend." Sapphire chided her with a laugh.

Heath laughed and put her arm around Alyss' shoulder. "I don't think I could."

Jace watched them go, smiling to see the team reunited for the next few months. He saw the wide smile on Alyss' lips when she saw the five foot and six inch girl running to greet her. He didn't even notice the airship had emptied and left and another landed.

 _"I love seeing her so happy… I just really wish I could-_ "

"Having a good time?"

Jace spun around at the familiar voice and smiled. He saw a six foot and five inch tall teen with dark-red hair with a streak of lighter red down the sides. His emerald eyes looked at Jace and he wore a grin on his face. He wore the standard Atlas academy uniform and had his greatsword on his back.

"Gen! You're here!" Jace exclaimed at seeing his brother.

"You're damn right I am!" Genesis replied and wrapped Jace in a crushing hug.

Jace did the same and the two seemed like, to outside viewers, they were trying to crush each other's spines. They finally released one another and they caught their breath. "How was your flight?" Jace asked.

"The turbulence was freaking horrible," Genesis replied, "I just closed my eyes and gripped the armrests as hard as I could. Didn't fucking help any. Gods, I really can't stand flying."

"You need something to help you out with that," Jace said, "I hope you can get better with it."

"Yeah, that'd be real nice."

"So… I doubt it's just you?"

"Nope. The others are here too," Genesis said and sighed, "Sorry… It slipped."

"What? About what happened to us?" Jace asked quietly.

Genesis nodded. "Michael started running his mouth about how you just couldn't handle the pressure and he thought you just quit."

"Figures he would think that."

"Yeah… Nika and Liza were there too. I told them everything about both you and me. That kinda felt refreshing, y'know?"

"I ended up telling my team about everything," Jace said with a small smile, "There was another person there too. I told them a couple nights ago and they accepted me, and I'm sure they'll accept you too. It feels so amazing to not have that be a secret to the ones that matter. I have a few more I might tell sometime too."

"I like your team already now that you said they accepted you," Genesis said with a returning grin, "Michael and Liza have been wanting to talk to you."

"What for?"

"You'll find out soon enough. We... aren't gonna be in the tournament since our team changed so late."

"Does that mean we won't either?" Jace asked as his heart sunk.

"Probably not. But hey, at least you got yourself someone!"

Jace gulped hard and he shook his head. "Umm… we're not dating, Gen… Sh-she's my friend."

"Oh. I saw the way you were looking at her and I just figured…" Genesis shook his head, "So, anything cool happen?"

"Yeah, actually," Jace said and rolled the sleeve of his shirt up, "Alyss healed my arm with her semblance."

"She can heal stuff? That's awesome. How's it feel?"

"Like it was never burned at all. Then I told them all of that a couple nights ago and she gave me so much comfort. She scritched my ears and laid in my bed with me and just calmed me down. Then she ended up sleeping in my bed with me-"

Jace stopped as he realized what he said as he blushed heavily. _"Fuck! I didn't mean to say that!"_

"Already getting girls in your bed?" Genesis teased.

Jace groaned and shook his head quickly. "You know nothing like that happened..."

"I know," Genesis said with a grin, "I'll have to meet her soon."

"You will."

Genesis leaned in close to him. "Jace, you should really go for it if you like her. Just ask."

"Gen, I don't know if she feels the same way," Jace said quietly, "Besides… she told her old teammate that we're just friends…"

"That doesn't mean anything can't change," Genesis said, "You need to ask. You might regret it if you don't. You know how dangerous this stuff is that we're training for."

"I know, but… I'm just so nervous."

"Take your time, but you need to just do it," Genesis patted him on the shoulder, "So, where's your other teammates at?

"I've kinda been waiting on them to get back from the city," Jace looked past his brother to see two people walking toward them, "And here they are."

"Jace, you left us to walk alone and then we had to deal with traffic." Raine said in annoyance as she stepped up to him.

"You know how annoyin' traffic can be now with all the tourists an' shit?" Auron asked him.

"Bad, probably," Jace grinned, "Guys, this is my brother. Genesis Galloway."

The two took their focus from Jace and turned to the dark-red haired teen. "Auron Karmine." Auron greeted.

"Raine Daturas." Raine greeted.

"Good to meet you both. Just call me Gen. Keep this knucklehead in line for me." Genesis said with a grin.

"We'll try our best." Raine returned the grin.

"You look familiar…" Genesis said to Raine.

"You remember Emowyn? The Ranger that stayed at the house for a while?" Jace asked and he nodded, "Well, this is her little sister."

"Damn, really?" Genesis grinned, "You really do look a lot like her."

"She's just shorter." Jace said.

"I think he can see that, Jace." Raine told him.

"Only thing I'm wondering is if you fight like her." Genesis said.

"Not exactly," Raine said, "She did help train me, but dad and our uncle did too. I use a sword, a knife, a longbow, and a rifle."

"Armed and ready, aren't you?" Genesis remarked.

Raine rolled her eyes. "I've heard that way too many times to count. I'll have to show you the rifle and the sword. Emowyn made the bow for me."

"I'll look forward to it."

Auron looked around them and made sure no one was around, then he looked at Genesis. "Y'know, I was expectin' more cat ears." He said quietly.

Genesis shook his head and grinned a bit. "Sorry to disappoint. I only have the senses. Jace got that and everything else. I guess his DNA just reacted differently than mine did."

"Not that I'm complaining. All of it is awesome to me. Having the Faunus stuff at least," Jace said, "Alright, now that you're back and you met Gen, we can go find Alyss and her old team." He finished, then he led the small group toward the cafeteria.

* * *

Introductions passed by quickly as Alyss' former team met Genesis, Auron, and Raine. The two members of JKDW returned to their dorm to rest after walking so muchnot long after. After Jace finished showing the new friends his tail, more introductions came when SLVA arrived. Heath's jaw hung open as she focused on Barrett's name.

"Wait, you're Barrett Akham?"

"Yeah, why?" Barrett asked.

"Dude, you're our new teammate!" Heath exclaimed and fished out her scroll. She showed the message to him that said he would be going to their team.

"Huh, that's where your names sound familiar." Barrett remarked and gave a small grin,

"I guess… welcome to the team," Sapphire told him, "It's weird meeting like this."

"So, you're the guys that Bear's going to?" Aulin gave a sigh, "You guys better take good care of him."

"Oh sure," Heath assured her, then she turned to Barrett, "Hey big guy, wanna go and talk more... in _private_?" She winked at him.

"Are you kidding me?" Inuvali groaned, "I think we found Aulin's long lost sister."

"I _did_ warn you guys." Alyss told them.

"I do not think we were prepared for the exact same personality." Bell remarked.

"What's there to warn about?" Aulin grinned and stuck her fist out to Heath, "We got great personalities!"

"We should hang out sometime sis." Heath told her with a wide grin as they bumped fists.

"Definitely. Man, you guys shoulda been here earlier," Aulin said with a grin, "There was this huge food fight between RWBY and JNPR and this place almost got completely destroyed!"

"A food fight?" Alyss echoed.

"Yes. Someone threw an apple at Yang and it escalated from there." Bell said.

"Jaune was thrown into a window," Inuvali added humorously, "I'm still confused on how that happened."

"Did you guys get in on it?" Genesis asked.

"No, me and Bear got here at the tail-end of it. Poor Bell and Inu were caught in the middle and got completely covered in stuff." Aulin replied and grinned at the groans of both team members.

"Please don't remind me of that…" Inuvali growled, "I don't know how long it took me to clean ketchup and mustard from my ears."

"Inside or outside?" Zack asked.

"Inside… There was a chunk of fish stuck between them as well."

"Gods, that's bad."

"And I had to clean Oum-knows-what from my hair for an hour," Bell grumbled, "I do not see how Yang takes care of that mane of hers."

"Maybe you should ask sometime." Alyss suggested.

"I may have to."

"You guys have to get a new member, right?" Genesis asked Aulin, hoping to avoid more discussion of hair.

"Yeah. Guy named Alex…" She took a glance over to Jace and he nodded for her to continue, "Storm. He's coming from Atlas."

"Alex Storm…" Genesis echoed and his eyes went to Jace, "I think I saw him on the airship. Umm… now that I think about it, you two look a lot alike."

"I'll need to talk to him sooner or later," Jace said, "I just want to know if he's related to _them_ …"

"Who are _them_?" Zack asked.

"You wanna tell them too?" Genesis asked Jace, "Because I'll be there too."

"Not in here I don't," Jace replied and looked around at the influx of Atlesian, Vacuoan, and Mistralian students mixing in with Beacon's own, "I don't want anyone I don't know overhearing it."

"You don't have to tell us anything." Sapphire assured him.

"I probably will. It might be easier since I told my team about it. That got a lot of weight off my shoulders. If we can all fit, we can go to our room and talk about it," Jace suggested, "You guys can talk to Barrett and we can maybe just hang out."

"Sounds good," Barrett said, "But... I might just take Heath here up on her offer." He said with a grin to the short, bubbly teen.

"Awesome! Wanna go now?" Heath asked.

"Don't you wanna know where our dorm is first?" Alyss asked.

"Crap, maybe we should wait."

"Well, we kinda all have to go to the orientation, remember?" Genesis said, "It probably won't be too long from now."

Heath sighed. "Damn, that's-"

"Heath, I swear to Oum I will shiv you if you keep cussing..." Sapphire growled at her.

"Noted. Sorry." Heath said and recoiled back from Sapphire with a grin.

"Now I know not to cuss around you." Barrett remarked.

"Glad we're on the same page." Sapphire said.

"And I thought deer Faunus were the peaceful ones." Inuvali remarked, showing a small grin.

"So Alyss, how do you like it here?" Sapphire asked her old teammate, ignoring the light-hearted comment.

"It's really great. The professors are nice and understanding and I made a few teams of new friends," Alyss blushed a bit as she looked down, "Me and Jace kinda had a scritching session before you texted me earlier…"

"You did?" Heath asked with a grin, "Oh I knew it would happen!"

"She really did," Zack said, "She kept saying how you two would end up doing that."

"Huh, I guess sleeping together isn't the only thing you two did." Genesis remarked

"What!?" The three members of SHRA exclaimed.

"He doesn't mean anything like that!" Alyss said quickly to dispel the thoughts, "We just… kinda slept in the same bed a couple nights ago. He told us about what happened to him as a kid and he panicked…"

"And I asked her to stay and scritch my ears," Jace continued, "Then I just fell asleep. She kept scritching because she's awesome and she fell asleep too."

"Sounds so romantic," Heath said rather dreamily, "One cat Faunus scritching another one to sleep, then she falls asleep too. I bet that was an adorable sight when you woke up."

"H-Heath, shut it," Alyss said lowly, "Don't you start…"

"Yeah Heath, that's enough teasing for the day," Sapphire said, "Can't you calm down?"

"I mean, I guess I could, but I'm just so happy to see our Kitty again! I can't help it!" Heath exclaimed.

"And I'm happy to see you too, Heath," Alyss said to her, "Just… no teasing."

Heath gave a half-hearted pout. "Alright, fine. But only because-"

"Would all students please report to the auditorium for orientation, thank you."

Glynda's cut through the intercom system and Jace gave a silent sigh of relief.

 _"Oh thank Oum. That got awkward."_


	13. Chapter 13: First Day

**Chapter Thirteen**

 **First Day**

"That was pretty quick," Jace remarked when the orientation ended, "I expected that to be longer."

"Y-yeah. So did I." Michael said quietly. The black-haired boy looked at Jace nervously with hazel-colored eyes. He blew the green-dyed bangs out of his face and pulled them behind his ears with his hands. The teen was five feet and eleven inches tall.

"Can we... talk to you for a minute?" Liza asked Jace, noticing the way his ears were pressed back against his skull since he saw them. She was five feet and seven inches tall, thin-bodied with medium-small breasts. Her eyes were the color of azure and her silver hair was drawn back in a long braid with a long streak of light-blue dyed into her hair on either side.

"Yeah. Sure." Jace answered her.

"We'll head back to our room an' wait." Auron said and he and Raine walked off.

"I guess I should go too." Alyss said as the others in the group headed off, save for Genesis and Nika.

"You don't have to. They didn't either," Jace told her and looked at Nika, "So you're one of Raine's old teammates?"

"Yeah, I was. Just wanted to be closer to home," The girl stood at five feet and nine inches. Her hair was disheveled and it reached to just below her shoulder blades, bright red in color. Her lime-colored eyes looked between Jace, Alyss, Genesis, Michael, and Liza, lingering on Genesis just a bit longer than the others.

"Gen told me a lot about you," She said to Jace, "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Jace said to her, then he turned toward Michael and Liza, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Just…" Michael sighed, "Sorry… for grabbing your tail and being an ass."

Jace looked a him in surprise. "I really didn't expect an apology from you..."

"And we didn't expect to hear what you went through," Liza said quietly as the group made their way to a less populated area to talk, "The experiments, your birth parents, your first adoptive parents…"

Jace let out a sigh. "I get it…"

"Sorry… We just feel like crap now after Genesis told us."

"And you didn't even think of anything before all the shit you both said and what _you_ did?" He said the last part to Michael.

"I'm a fucking idiot, I know," Michael said, "I wouldn't blame you or stop you if you wanted to knock me out."

"Listen…" Jace said, addressing them both, "I'm not gonna do anything like that. You're apologizing and I guess that's all I can ask for."

Michael and Liza looked at him in shock. "You're forgiving us?" Michael asked.

"It's not gonna do anyone any good if I hold a grudge, even though I'm still pissed you grabbed my tail," Michael looked down to the ground and Jace sighed, "Don't worry about it. You apologized and you know you screwed up. I can't be mad about that forever."

"See? I told you both he would talk to you," Genesis told the two, "And he didn't yell at you."

"Both of you were worrying over nothing." Nika said.

"We see that now." Liza replied

"Alright. You guys gonna head to your room?" Jace asked the four.

"Yeah. Probably good to go do that and get settled in." Genesis answered.

"How about we hang out after school tomorrow?" Jace suggested.

"Sounds good. We can play cards."

"Damn, I forgot to being mine."

Genesis grinned. "I have them in my bag."

"Awesome. We just have to get through classes first."

From there, Jace and Alyss separated from the team and walked back to the dorms, Alyss felt a feeling of happiness just walking next to him.

"So… You forgave him?" She asked after a few moments.

Jace nodded. "Like I said. It wouldn't have done either of us any good if I just never talked to him."

Alyss _hummed_. "That makes you a better person than what you were when I met you. I'm glad you did."

"Does that mean I can have scritches?" Jace asked with a small grin.

"S-sure," Alyss answered, "I'm sure it would make your day better after seeing your brother."

"Same to you after seeing your friends." Jace said.

"Yeah. I'm really happy that I saw them," Alyss smiled in happiness, "And I get to keep seeing them for the next couple months."

"I'm glad your team is happy that you like it here. You gonna take them to see your mom?"

Alyss nodded quickly. "Yeah, I definitely will. I'm sure she'd love to see them again."

"I'd like to visit again sometime soon too. She's really friendly and nice. I know where you get it from now."

That made Alyss smile even more. "Like she always says, I'm her little cub."

* * *

"Fuck, today's been a headache." Jace groaned as the team walked towards the amphitheater for combat class.

"Because of all the talkin'?" Auron asked.

"No. Some people don't know moderation when it comes to perfume or whatever."

"It's the downside to our sense of smell." Raine said.

"It's just so overbearing." Alyss added.

"Yeah, even I can smell that they spray it on way too strong," Auron said, "Hell, mom banned me from sprayin' that shit in the house 'cause it makes her cough bad."

"At least it's faded out through the day," Jace said with a short sigh of relief.

"Who all is in our combat class anyway?" Alyss asked.

"There's Gen's team, Glass. Then there's APCT and RWBY. That's as much I know." Jace said.

"I wonder who's gonna fight." Raine said as they finally reached the amphitheater.

They entered and found empty seats toward the middle. They had arrived early considering there was hardly anyone there. They sat down and just waited. After a few minutes, the other students started arriving, which the first happened to be APCT.

"Hey guys. How've you been?" Jace greeted them.

"Hello Jace. It is good to see you again, my friend." Tyr Alexander greeted back. The muscled teen looked at Jace with a grin and his olive-colored eyes scanned his team, standing at six feet tall.

"Did you let your hair grow out?" Jace asked as he noticed Tyr's red hair was a bit longer than what he had seen before.

"I have been meaning to have it shaved."

"I will if you want me to." His partner, Ashe Crane, said to him. She was five feet and eleven inches tall, thin-framed and nearly flat-chested. She let her dark-hazel eyes fall back to the others, her medium-long jade-colored hair swaying at the sides of her head.

The other members of his team greeted Jace and introduced themselves to his team. Except Ashe didn't have to introduce herself to one member of the team. "Hey, Raine. Good to see you again." She greeted the diminutive apprentice. Her hazel eyes looked at the newly formed team with interest. Two of her friends from different kingdoms were now on the same team.

"You too, Ashe." Raine greeted back.

"Have you been hanging out with Vivi lately?" Ashe asked with a grin.

"Not recently…" Raine answered, "I've been getting to know my team."

"I'm sure she would like to meet them sometime."

"When she comes to check the school, she can meet them then."

"Good that you're doing good," Paige Corbin said to Jace, "After your time at Atlas, you need the good times." The snowy-eyed boy gave a smile. He was five feet and ten inches tall, lean with less muscles than his leader

"Yeah, really. You guys look like you could take on a horde of Grimm." His partner and girlfriend, Terra Lockhart, added with a grin as her opal-colored eyes scanned the team. She was six feet and two inches tall with toned arms, a large bust, and long legs.

"Thanks," Jace replied, "I'm sure having my artillery claymore combined with Auron's lever-action rifle-claymore... _thing_ , and Raine's Ranger training can do a lot of damage."

"Hey, what about me?" Alyss asked in mock hurt.

"You're our healer for when we get in over our heads." Jace grinned.

"I wish you all luck in the future," Tyr told them, "And I wish you happiness in your new home, Jace."

"It's easy when Alyss scritches his ears." Genesis said from behind them as his team arrived.

"He's not wrong." Jace said quietly.

The words made Alyss' heart flutter. _"I really need to just ask him..."_

"Hi Jace, hi guys."

Jace turned his head and saw team RWBY walking toward them, led by Ruby, who was waving at them. "Hey. You guys excited for the tournament?"

"Yeah! It's gonna be fun," Ruby grinned, "Maybe I'll get to go against your artillery claymore."

"I'd like to see how I'd do against your scythe too."

"So, wanna introduce us to your friends?" Yang asked him.

"Sure," Jace said and patted Genesis on the shoulder, "This is my brother, Genesis."

"You guys can call me Gen like everyone else." Genesis told them.

"Sure thing," Yang said, "What about the rest of you?"

Everyone introduced themselves and Jace looked over to Michael with a bit of a grin. "I already told you why I was really mad with him."

"Didn't you tell us it was… because…" Ruby bit her lip in thought before her eyes widened, "He's the guy that pulled your tail?"

Michael sighed. "Yeah… I'm _that_ guy…" He groaned, bracing himself for people to yell at him.

"And why are you all of a sudden this friendly with him?" Weiss asked Jace, "After what you said?"

"He apologized after the orientation yesterday. I'm giving him another chance." Jace answered her.

"Nice thing to do." Yang remarked.

"Yeah, really. But that's great that you're so forgiving of it." Ruby said, absentmindedly placing her hand on Blake's forearm.

"You realize it's completely disrespectful to even _touch_ a Faunus' animal trait, don't you?" Blake asked Michael with a frown.

"I know that and I was an idiot. I regret it now that I know more about him," Michael answered, "I'm working on not being like that anymore."

Soon after, all the students arrived and Glynda called them all to attention. "Students, as you know, today is the beginning of preparations for the Vytal tournament. There will mostly be sparring matches pitting a student of one kingdom versus one from another kingdom. We will also be judging who qualifies for the tournament from Beacon. But some may fight another student from the same kingdom. If there are no questions, the first match of the day will be Dove Bronzewing versus Nika Styles. Go prepare yourselves."

The two left their respective teams and went to the locker rooms. While there was time before the match, Jace raised his hand. "Yes mister Reznor, what do you need?"

"I wanted to know if my team would be able to qualify for the tournament or not since we were teamed up right before this semester."

"I am afraid you will not be eligible, I apologize," Glynda told him, "You will have to wait until the festival next year."

Jace sighed and nodded. "Thank you. I had to know for sure.." He shook his head and crossed his arms, "Damn… that sucks."

"Yeah, it does," Genesis agreed, "Can you imagine me and you? It'd be a huge stalemate until they called it off for a time limit."

"That would be something," Jace grinned, "At least it'll come around again."

"You guys are outta luck. I would've liked to fight against you." Yang said to them.

"Yes, it is a shame you will not be able to compete." Tyr said.

"I have who I'm rooting for at least." Jace said with a grin.

"Us?" Ruby and Paige asked at the same time, then looked at each other and laughed.

"Sorry Ruby, I have to cheer on the friends that I've known longer." Jace said.

"Well I'm for you guys, Ruby." Alyss said.

"Awesome! It's gonna be so fun!" Ruby exclaimed as quietly as she could.

"I'm going with APCT," Raine told team RWBY, "Ashe being an apprentice Ranger and all."

"Well I'm all in for JNPR." Auron said.

"I guess we'll all have to wait and see, right?" Terra said.

After a few more moments, both combatants stepped back out onto the sparring area. Nika wore a dark-gray combat vest and camouflage pants of different shades of blue, along with black low-heeled boots. On her hands were black fingerless gloves that reached the middle of her forearms. Strapped to her back was a rather put-together looking longsword in a black sheath with red cloth wrapped around two spots, with a small metal box where the sword went into the sheath with a few buttons on it. She took the sword out and held it ready, blade pointed toward Dove. It had a simple blade and wood bolted into it as a hilt, shaved down to meet the size of her hand. It was wrapped in thin black rope for protection from the bolts and for comfort.

There was a snort and a series of laughs from Dove and his team at the sight of her weapon. "Good Oum, did a kid make that for a costume?" Dove snickered and continued laughing, "It looks like someone just threw a piece of metal and put a handle on it!"

Nika scowled. "Yes, a kid _did_ make this. It was a gift from my little brother."

"Maybe you should've just put it on a wall then. That thing doesn't look fit for combat!" Dove just couldn't stop giggling like a schoolgirl.

"I'm sorry I didn't have daddy's money to buy mine." Nika spat at him.

That made Dove go silent and caused most of the students in the stands to laugh. "Are you both ready?" Glynda asked them in annoyance.

"Yes ma'am." Nika said.

"Sure, let's get this over with." Dove said and prepared his own sword.

"He's fucked." Genesis remarked silently.

"What makes you say that already?" Alyss asked him.

"You'll see."

"Oh I hope so," Yang remarked, "The little piece of crap needs his ass kicked along with his team."

"Like when Jace froze Cardin and Russell's mouths shut." Ruby giggled.

Genesis looked at Jace and cocked an eyebrow. "Already getting in trouble?"

Jace rolled his eyes. "Bite me."

The buzzer sounded and Dove broke into a sprint toward Nika. He swung at her with a wild side cut and she deflected it easily, then she jumped and raised her knee into Dove's jaw, knocking him back. She came at him as he was stunned and sliced at his legs and arms, then she went for his torso. He blocked the attack and stepped back away from her. He shook his head at what just happened and fired a few rounds from his sword at her. She dodged most of them but a couple were able to hit her.

She closed the distance and Dove swung at her overhanded. She stopped short and the blade hit the ground and stuck there, leaving him vulnerable. She stepped on his blade and kept him from pulling it free.

He looked up at her and saw her looking at him coldly, almost seeming to radiate poison from her bright-green eyes. She raised her sword flat between them and activated her semblance, making a white aura come from the hilt and blade, extending a foot past its tip. She quickly sliced at him and knocked him away from his sword. She jumped after him and sent the aura blade into his torso and arms as he tried to block the onslaught. Soon after, the buzzer sounded and the match stopped.

"The match is over. The winner is Nika Styles." Glynda called.

"That wasn't fair!" Dove exclaimed, "She knocked my weapon from my hand and just kept attacking me!"

"Mister Bronzewing, don't be a child," Glynda scolded him, "Do you expect criminals, rogue Huntsmen, or the Grimm to be _fair_? No, they will not. You must learn to keep hold of your weapon at all times because it could prove to be fatal if you are so careless like you showed us today. You could have easily knocked miss Styles back and you could have retrieved your weapon. Do not blame _unfairness_ for your loss."

Dove was at a loss for words as he gritted his teeth and grabbed his sword. He stormed off to the locker room and Nika went to the opposite one.

"Told you he was screwed," Genesis said to the group around him, "She's really proud that she uses that sword. Her little brother made it before he died of a type of disease. She calls it _Light_ , named after her brother because she said he was as bright as ever even when he was dealing with that disease"

"You _don't_ make fun of it," Michael said, "I'm pretty sure she still hates me for it. It's another thing I regret doing..."

"The next match will be Genesis Galloway versus Jace Reznor." Glynda called and the brothers gave matching grins.

"Looks like we get to fight." Jace said as they both stood.

"Yep. Let's try not to make it last forever." Genesis replied and they knocked their forearms together.

"Good luck, Kitty." Alyss said sweetly.

 _"Well… I said I would call him that sometimes and he said he'd be okay with it…"_

"Th-thanks." Jace smiled nervously at her.

"Yeah, good luck, _Kitty_." Genesis echoed Alyss.

"Eat it, Gen."

The two quickly retrieved their gear from their lockers and returned ready for combat. Genesis with his greatsword, _Standoff_ , and Jace with his, _Legacy_. They both proudly wore the armor their father made them both, Genesis' being a chestplate with a cross with a snake wrapped around the top and Jace's spaulder with the same emblem.

"Excuse me, miss Goodwitch?" Genesis got the instructor's attention.

"Yes, mister Galloway?"

"You… might wanna set a time limit for us."

"And why would I need to?"

"We trained together so much in Atlas and we can never beat each other." Jace answered her.

Glynda sighed. "Very well. You will have a three minute time limit. The aura limit is fifty percent. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes ma'am." Both Jace and Genesis answered her.

The two brothers grinned at each other and held their blades ready. After a few moments, the buzzer sounded and the match started. Like they always had before, they launched themselves at each other quickly and their swords clashed hard. Jace quickly fired a shot from his sword's large barrel and separated them. Genesis used that to spin in the opposite direction and brought _Standoff_ back into Jace. He deflected the slash to the side and spun, bringing the hilt of _Legacy_ into Genesis' chest, knocking him back a bit. Jace went low with his next attack and sent _Legacy_ toward his brother's knees. Genesis stuck _Standoff_ in the ground and blocked the strike, then he kicked his foot out into Jace's stomach, knocking him back.

Jace kept his footing and Genesis sent a fireball his way with his semblance. Jace blocked the fire with his sword and rushed in, closing the distance once more. He spun in a pinwheel motion and brought _Legacy_ down against _Standoff_ , pushing Genesis back a little. Jace kept the motion going and hit ten times, Genesis blocking them all. Jace pulled the trigger on the last hit and knocked Genesis backwards across the room. Jace, unbeknownst to the crowd, focused bolt dust to his legs and ran for Genesis. The red-haired teen blasted fire from his boots in an explosion propelling him upwards over Jace's attack. Jace followed and activated his semblance and flew up after him. Genesis knew it was coming and pulled his sword up to block the crushing overhanded strike from Jace, being knocked back to the floor. He landed on his feet with his boots being implanted in the floor with small, cracked impact craters and Jace flew down toward him.

Genesis once again blocked Jace's attack and he stood his ground as Jace stayed in the air, pushing against _Standoff_. He pushed back against Jace and the cat Faunus landed on his feet, deactivating his semblance. The two started toward each other again, but the buzzer sounding caused them to pause.

"The time has expired," Glynda called from her position to the side, "Both aura levels are on eighty percent. It is a tie."

"It was already three minutes?" Jace asked and Glynda nodded.

Both brothers gave sighs of exertion and put their swords on their backs. They patted each other on the shoulders and grinned. "Same as always, huh?" Jace remarked.

"Yeah. Maybe next year we can finally have a winner." Genesis replied.

The two went to store their weapons while Glynda called on the next combatants. "The next match will be Terra Lockhart versus Liza Flair."

"Oh… _Crap_." Liza groaned.

"What? It'll be fun!" Terra said and jumped from her seat.

"What's wrong, exactly?" Alyss asked.

"I… really suck at fighting at the moment." Liza answered as she slowly stood up and followed Terra down the stairs.

"Before Genesis really snapped at us about everything, we never were serious about training or fighting," Michael said with a sigh, "Good publicity and all that comes from being Huntsmen was what we focused on. Never our skill. Well, I focused more on girls too, which I'm not anymore. Not as much. Just... trying to focus on improving myself."

"The fact that they suck with schoolwork doesn't help either." Nika said.

"At least we're gonna try now." Michael replied.

Genesis and Jace returned to the others as the two girls entered the locker rooms. Terra and Liza re-entered the room a few moments later and stood in the middle. Terra held _Bullhammer_ up in a fighting stance and Liza held her claw weapons, _Flair Blitz_ , to her sides tentatively.

The buzzer sounded and Terra came at Liza quickly. Liza brought her fists up to block the strike to her face and counter attacked with a left swing. Terra ducked under it and brought her steam-hydraulic gauntlet into Liza's stomach, then sent the other to her face and spun her around. Liza tried to use that to swing her hand around to strike her, but Terra anticipated and blocked it. She raised her knee into Liza's gut and doubled her over, then she grabbed her around the stomach from above.

She lifted Liza up and her head was suddenly pointing upwards, then Terra slammed her back to the ground. The brunette brawler backed off and let Liza come back to her feet, then she went back in and sent a series of fast hooks and jabs to Liza's face and body. Leaving her completely dazed. Terra kicked her legs out from under her and stepped back, turning her side to Liza. The silver-haired girl stirred and slowly rose herself up once again as Terra started lifting and stomping her right foot on the ground. When Liza rose and faced her, she sidestepped fast and raised her leg, striking Liza up under her chin with the heel of her boot and sent her to the ground again as the buzzer sounded.

"The match is over. The winner is Terra Lockhart." Glynda called.

Terra walked over to Liza and extended her hand. "Was that payback for me being racist to Jace? I said I was sorry…" Liza groaned and took the offered hand.

Terra lifted her up off the ground and smiled. "Nah. That was for calling me fat at the start of first semester."

"S-sorry…"

"Don't worry, I'm over it now. And if Jace forgave you, I will too."

The two left for the locker rooms quickly and Jace gave a short chuckle. "What do you guys think about Terra's fighting style?" He asked RWBY and his own team.

"I wanna fight her!" Yang exclaimed with a grin.


	14. Chapter 14: Meeting

**Chapter Fourteen**

 **Meeting**

"You guys shoulda seen Jace and Gen fight," Auron told three members of SLVA during their meal a the end of the school day, "They just blocked an' countered the whole time. It had to be put on a time limit an' a higher aura limit an' the time still ran out."

"Sounds like it would've been great," Aulin said, "I wish we were part of that class today."

"It wasn't that big of a deal," Genesis told them, "It's what always happens when we fight."

"Yeah, but we never saw it before." Alyss said.

"It was something else, really." Nika said at Genesis' side. Their teammates had returned to their dorm, having decided to eat later after Liza recovered her scrambled thoughts from her match.

"And you said Terra had a grapple-based fighting style?" Inuvali asked, "I've never heard of something like that."

"She got it from her dad," Genesis said, "He calls it a wrestling style or whatever, but it works. Her attacks don't hit _extremely_ hard but she hits fast and can grab you and slam you down hard."

"You remember when she hit you with a… What'd she call it? A powerbomb? Like she did to Liza?" Jace asked his brother with a grin.

Genesis laughed. "Yeah, I remember. What about when she got you with a DDT? Nearly knocked you out cold because you didn't see it coming."

"Gods, I remember and that hurt." Jace shared a laugh with him.

"You two are very close," Bell observed, "You've told us about that, but seeing it is also something else."

"I promised Jace when we met that he would never be alone again," Genesis said and showed a grin, "I've always stuck by his side. He's the closest person to me right now, and next is dad."

"And he knocked the hell out of an annoying person for grabbing my tail." Jace grinned.

"Language, Big Cat." They heard Sapphire say from behind them.

"Sorry Saph. You guys have a good first day?" Jace asked as SHRA sat down at the table, with Barrett arriving with them.

"It was good. Got to know Barrett a little more." Zack answered.

"At least you guys can keep SHRA as your team name." Alyss said to them.

"Yeah, that's really good," Heath replied, "I don't wanna have to get used to saying a new name for us all."

"Yeah, it's pretty great on their team too," Barrett said, "It just sucks it'll still be a few months before I can see mom."

"Don't worry Bear, it'll be okay," Heath said and patted him on the shoulder, "She'll be alright."

"You two getting along good?" Aulin asked them both.

"Yeah, we are." Barrett answered with a grin.

"Did you guys ever meet with your new teammate yet?" Sapphire asked Aulin.

"Yeah. He's back in our room resting. He had a rough day." Aulin answered.

"Can you tell him I want to meet him sometime?" Jace asked her, "Y'know… I want to know."

"We can set it up for this weekend. It'll give him time to get used to the school and we won't have to worry about school the next day." Aulin suggested.

"Sounds good…" Jace gave a nervous sigh as his fists clenched.

Alyss reached over and put her hand on his shoulder "It'll be okay, Kitten," She grinned and he smiled back, "Do you want to be alone for it?"

"Gen kinda has to be there too." Jace said, calming down from his nervousness at the touch of her hand.

"Yeah… I need to know if I might have another little brother." Genesis said.

"We'll leave the room for you then." Aulin offered.

"Good luck with that." Auron told them.

* * *

The week went by agonizingly slow for Jace. The overly-strong scents, loud talking, and a few boring classes put him in a dour mood most of the time. That didn't last long as Alyss always lightened his mood with a smile or when she put a hand on his shoulder, or when she just rubbed his ears. He loved every moment of being with her. She just made him feel great. Combat classes had changed around and he got to see fights between Auron and Tyr, Alyss and Sky Lark from CRDL, Weiss and Bell, Aulin and Michael, Blake and Raine, himself and Inuvali, Pyrrha and Sapphire, and Zack and Paige.

At the end of classes on Friday, JKDW separated. Jace went to a quiet spot to talk with Genesis while the rest of their teams went to their dorms. Both of them had a lot on their minds about one subject.

"What if he's your brother?" Genesis asked.

"Then I'll accept him if he accepts me," Jace answered easily, "If we are, then we came from the same parents. I doubt he ever really knew what happened to them. They probably told him that he was their only son and kept me a secret. I'll tell him the truth about it all."

Genesis nodded slowly. "If you accept each other, then I'll accept him too. If he's your brother by blood then I'll be as much a brother to him that I am to you."

"We gotta call dad and tell him about this." Jace said.

"Wanna go ahead and get that out of the way?"

Jace nodded and brought his scroll out. He quickly found their father's number and called.

"Hey Jace, like it at Beacon?" Haile greeted Jace.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome so far. I've made a lot of friends already. Even a few people from Haven."

"That's really good to know. I'm happy that you found friends quick."

"Me too. I have this on speaker and Gen's here too." Jace replied.

"Hey dad." Genesis greeted.

"Oh, hey Gen. Was the flight okay?

"Not at all." Genesis replied.

"I wish they weren't so hard on you. What did you call about?"

"Well, it's not about Jace sleeping with a girl." Genesis remarked.

"Really? Jace, what have you been doing?" Haile asked in humor.

"Damn it, Gen, I didn't want to tell him that..." Jace sighed, "I-it wasn't anything like that… M-me and my teammate just fell asleep in the same bed."

"Ah, good to know you aren't just sleeping around."

"Dad…"

"I'm just teasing you, son. It's all fine with me if you're safe and happy." Haile assured him, and Jace could only assume he was giving a light smile.

"Right... Listen, I told my team and my new friends about what me and Gen went through and they accepted us. Alyss comforting me after that is what really made us sleep together."

"That's good to hear. Now… what did you need?"

"Umm… you remember that Storm used to be my last name, right?" Jace asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm not forgetting that anytime soon." Haile said, his mood growing serious.

"Well… There's someone with that name joining my friend's team. His name is Alex."

"Alex Storm?" Haile echoed in shock, "I read reports that they had another son but… I thought it was a mix-up and they meant you, not a kid named Alex. If I knew, I would've told you…"

"Don't worry about it dad, it doesn't bother me," Jace assured him, "Me and Gen are gonna meet with him tomorrow and talk. I guess with what you said... that means we're actually brothers."

"You both need to know for sure. I'm gonna try to read over those reports again if I can find them. I'm gonna see if I can head down there to meet him too. Maybe we can have a bit of family time before the tournament."

"That would be good," Genesis said, "What sucks is that we can't be in it this year because our teams changed around right before the semester started."

"That's disappointing, but you always have next year," Haile told them, "I'm gonna let you go now. Thanks for letting me know that."

"No problem. Talk to you later, dad." Jace said.

"Bye dad." Genesis said.

"Bye kids. Stay safe."

The call was ended and the brothers looked at each other, faces full of nervousness.

 _"How's Alex gonna take it?"_ Jace wondered in his head.

"I guess we should get back to our rooms," Genesis said, "We have to get ready for tomorrow."

"Yeah, we do. See you then, Gen."

"Till then, Kitty."

Jace rolled his eyes at that, even though he'd be smiling if Alyss had said it. And blushing, most likely. He walked toward the Beacon students' dorms slowly as he tried to think about the next day. It would be awkward as all hell when they meet with Alex and he knew it. He doubted he would get much sleep that night.

Before too long, he arrived at the dorms and was standing in front of his team's door. He unlocked it and opened it up, seeing Auron and Raine sitting at the table.

"Hey guys. Where's-"

Jace was cut off when Alyss pounced on him from the side, sending them both to the carpeted floor with Alyss straddling his stomach with her hands on his shoulders.

"Hi." She greeted him with a little smile and a blush on her cheeks.

Jace reached his hand up to scritch her ears, drawing a happy _purr_ from her. "Hi Kitty Cat."

"Where have you been?" Alyss asked, cocking her head to the side with one ear flattening out and the other sticking straight up.

"Talking to Gen and dad, you adorable kitten," Jace answered, "Now, may I please stand up?"

Alyss nodded and moved off of him, then they both came to their feet. "So, I have news." Jace said as he and Alyss sat down at the table.

"What is it?" Raine asked.

"I have a pretty good amount of proof that Alex is my brother."

"How did you find that out?" Alyss asked him.

"Dad told us that he read a report saying the Storms had another kid. He thought it was a screwup and they meant to put my name instead of Alex. Now I'm even more sure that we're related."

Auron let out a loud breath. "Damn, you're gonna have a hell of a time tomorrow."

"I know and I won't be able to sleep because of it." Jace said dryly.

"I'm sure you'll find away to get at least a little bit of sleep," Raine told him, "Even if for an hour or twk."

"What? Knock myself out?" Jace asked jokingly.

"I... wouldn't go _that_ far." Raine laughed.

The team finished the conversation and dressed in their sleepwear. Auron jumped in his bed first before the light was turned off, then Raine hit the switch. They all laid in their beds and slowly drifted off to sleep, all except for Jace. He laid there for an hour trying to drift off. He gave a sigh and turned over for the fifth time, just unable to clear his mind.

 _"Light damn it… I'm so nervous that he might not accept me…"_ He groaned and turned over again, _"What is he even gonna say? Or think? What the hell am I gonna say? What if he just can't accept our parents were-"_

"Jace?"

Jace jumped a bit at the soft voice of his teammate next to his bed. He looked up into her concerned emerald and sapphire orbs and sighed. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"No… I can't sleep," Jace whispered, "I just don't know what he'll say."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Alyss assured him, "Just try to stay calm."

"Hard to do when you're about to talk with the brother you thought you never had..."

Alyss gave a sigh and lowered herself into the bed with him. "Wh-what are you doing?" Jace asked in confusion.

"Remember when I stayed and helped ease your mind when you told us about your childhood?" She asked and he nodded slowly, "I'm doing it again. I don't like seeing anyone worrying over something like this."

She reached her hand up and started scritching his ears. "I won't stop you…" Jace closed his eyes and leaned his head forward against her shoulder. "Thanks… I can't help but be worried about what he might think, but this is helping."

"Then I'm staying right here. Maybe we should keep doing this. It... feels nice."

Jace _hummed_ and his tail came to his front and draped itself over Alyss's waist. She jumped a bit from the contact but reached her hand down to lightly rub the furry appendage, drawing more _purrs_ from her friend.

"Go to sleep, Jace."

"Thanks again… Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

"You ready to meet him." Alyss asked Jace at their table the next morning.

"Not really, no," Jace answered her, "But I think I'm getting there."

"You're just waiting for Genesis, right?" Raine asked.

"Yeah."

"Have fun with your day." Auron told him.

"Easier said than done." Jace sighed.

Alyss placed her slender hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "You'll both handle it. You just need to stay calm."

"I think I'm my calmest when you scritch my ears now." Jace said.

"That has to be the sappiest thing I've ever heard a cat Faunus say." Auron remarked.

"Shut up, Pepper." Jace and Alyss told him.

"It's a sweet thing of him to say." Alyss said.

"Don't make it any less sappy."

"But it doesn't make it any less true." Jace countered.

"It's both sweet and sappy," Raine interjected, "How about that?"

Auron rolled his eyes. "Sure, let's go with that. Plus I never knew any cat Faunus before you two an' I don't know Vivi well, so yeah." Auron said after a moment.

There was a set of knocks on the door and Jace jumped up to answer it. "Hey Gen."

"Hey. You about ready?" Genesis asked.

"Nope. But that won't matter in a little bit," Jace said and went to his desk to retrieve that journal, "What's everyone else gonna do while we're doing this?" He asked his team.

"I'm gonna go hang out with Sapphire and the others for a bit," Alyss said for herself, "I was gonna take them to see mom too."

"I might go talk to Pyrrha." Auron answered.

"I'm gonna hang out with Vivi while she's here." Raine answered.

"At least everyone has plans," Genesis said, "Nika's reading a book and Michael and Liza are gonna go train against bots."

"Hey Alyss," Jace turned to the cat Faunus, "How long are you gonna be with your old team?"

"Maybe two or three hours. Why?" Alyss asked.

"Because I'm gonna need scritches probably."

"Oh you are just a little kitten." Genesis laughed.

"Shut up, Gen. You don't know how comforting and calming that can be." Jace told him.

"Children, don't start arguin'." Auron said.

"Hey, I'm older than you!" Genesis huffed.

"How?" Auron asked in confusion.

"Because I held myself back so I can help and keep even with Jace. I'm two years older than him." Genesis answered.

"Damn. I didn't know that."

Aulin appeared in the doorway a moment later and waved at them. "Alright, both of you get on over there," She told Jace and Genesis, "Alex is waiting."

"Here we go." Jace said and took a deep breath.

Alyss stood from her seat and hugged him lightly. "Good luck with the talk. We'll definitely have a scritching session later."

"Th-thanks… I'm gonna need it."

 _"Two things on my mind that I don't know what to do about…"_ Jace thought to himself, _"At least I'm talking to Alex about this."_

The brothers left the room and Aulin led them to the room next door. She left them there and walked on to find something to do. They looked at each other, then to the door and simultaneously took deep breaths. Jace knocked on it and he heard some shuffling in the room, then he heard the door handle turning.

The door opened and a dark-brown haired and eye teen around five feet an nine inches tall looked at them both, wearing thick brown pants and a thin light-blue jacket. "I guess you're the ones that wanna talk to me?" He asked.

"Yeah… I'm Jace Reznor," Jace greeted nervously, "This is my adoptive brother. Genesis Galloway.

"Hey there. Just call me Gen." Genesis greeted, looking between Jace and Alex with surprise.

"I guess you know I'm Alex Storm," He didn't notice the slight flinch that Jace gave, "I guess just come in and we can talk."

The two walked in the room and Alex sat on a bed. "You guys can sit down on that bed. I don't guess Aulin would mind it," He pointed to the bed across from him and the two sat down, "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

"Did you… know your parents?" Jace asked slowly.

"Birth parents? No, not much, just their names. Bray and Abigail. I remember being... four or five when I was put in an orphanage at least. I grew up there and I'm basically on some grant or scholarship or whatever. I'm a year early too," Alex looked at Jace skeptically, "I never got a straight answer about them. Why?"

"So, you don't know they're in prison?" Genesis asked bluntly.

"What!?" Alex exclaimed, "They're locked up in jail? Why? And why couldn't anyone even tell me that?" Alex shook his head, "How do you two know?"

Jace looked at the journal in his hands and clutched it tightly. "Because… they're my birth parents…"

"You're telling me that the Storms are your parents too? And we're brothers?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes as Jace nodded, "Then why aren't you using their last name?"

"Because… they're just horrible pieces of trash that deserve to rot in there." Jace said lowly.

"Okay, why are they in there in the first place?"

Jace took a deep breath and opened the journal to the marked page, then he handed it to Alex. "B-because they sold me…"

"They what…?" Alex asked in disbelief at what was said. He took the journal and looked at the names on the page.

"Sellers: Bray and Abigail Storm… Subject: Jace Storm, age six…?" Alex echoed the names and looked at Jace, who nodded shakily.

"Oh gods…" Alex shut the journal after a few moments and slowly handed it back to Jace, "I'm sorry that happened to you, man…"

"When the police and Huntsmen finally showed up, Jace was put in an orphanage and he was adopted quickly," Genesis continued where he thought Jace might not be able to, "Then he grew the ears after awhile. Those people kicked him out…"

"They just left me to die," Jace said lowly, "Two grown adults leaving a child to die alone in the streets… I grew this tail after a few more months and then dad… _our_ dad found me. I took his last name because I want to leave all of that in the past. The Storms and the ones that left me on the streets. I'm fighting for all the ones that didn't survive that hell…"

"And so am I," Genesis added, "I was kidnapped and used in those experiments too. We never knew of each other until dad introduced us."

"I… I think I remember something…" Alex said and rubbed his temple, "I remember when I was five… I remember someone other than them… I think that might've been you… I remember having someone else there now."

"Really? You're remembering?" Jace asked, "A-after all of that stuff… I don't remember anything before I was experimented on."

"Yeah. S-so… that was you?" Alex said, still trying to wrap his head around it, "I-I think I might remember them saying that they were just taking care of you for someone... They lied about you."

"You two should look in a mirror," Genesis said, "You look almost the same. You got the same jawline, nose, hair color, and your cheekbones look almost the same too."

The two stood and went to the mirror that Bell had for her desk. They looked in it and were shocked at how similar they looked. "I'll be damned…" Jace breathed out.

"We _do_ look like we're brothers…" Alex said in shock, then the two returned to the beds and sat down, "And… they just sold you…? Like you were an item?"

"And they got caught for it. Both of you are better knowing that they're locked up." Genesis told them.

"Y'know… I always wanted to see them again… Bray and Abigail…" Alex let out a loud sigh as he shook his head, "Now, I never want to see them. I never want to be associated with them… I want them to rot in that prison for what they did…"

"And… you have no problems with me being a Faunus?" Jace asked, "As unnatural as it is?"

"No… _Hell no_. I don't have any problems," Alex answered, "You're still fighting after all of that. You have my respect, Jace…"

"Y'know, I might have a solution if you don't want to be associated with them anymore." Genesis said to Alex.

"What would that be?"

"You can join our family," Genesis replied, seeing Alex's head tilt, "You can come to our family. With your brother."

"Y-you'd really let me into your family after you just met me?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"I'm with Gen," Jace said, his eyes blurred with tears, "You need something better than them. Dad's on his way over and he should be here in the next few days, a week at the most. I'm sure he'll say the same."

"Gods… I don't know what to think…" Alex said as his eyes started leaking tears, "I have a brother… I-I really have a brother…"

Jace stood from the bed and stepped over to place his hand on Alex's shoulder. Alex looked up and Jace nodded. "I'll accept you as my brother no matter what happens."

Alex stood and wrapped Jace in a strong hug. "Th-thanks, man… I accept you too… Thanks for letting me know the truth."

Jace returned the hug just as strong. "You needed to know."

"You both did." Genesis said lightly.

"Listen…" Jace said and released Alex, "We're gonna go… I'll let you know when dad gets here so we can all talk."

"Okay. Maybe we should get each other's scroll number." Alex suggested. He quickly gave his to Jace and Genesis and they gave theirs to him.

"See you later." Jace said to Alex, then he and Genesis left the room.

They walked back to Jace's room and Jace threw the journal back in the bottom drawer of the desk. He faced Genesis and gave a shaky smile. "S-so… He's my brother…"

"Yep," Genesis said, "And that means he's my brother too."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Probably go and hang out with Nika. What about you?"

"I might stay here or go find Auron or Raine. I'll probably just stay and lay down."

Genesis laughed. "Did the talk drain your energy or something?"

"You have no idea." Jace said and jumped in his bed.

"I'll leave you to it then. See ya later."

Jace gave a slow wave. "Later.

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: Hello to everyone that's been reading this as it's updated. I just wanna say that there are two more chapters to this act that I'll post today. Then, I'm taking a week's break to make sure the next act is all good and ready to go. I just figured I would say that.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	15. Chapter 15: Welcome to the Family

**Chapter Fifteen**

 **First Act Finale**

 **Welcome to the Family**

"Man, you two are purring a lot." Raine remarked as she and Auron returned to the dorm room later that day.

"Well, I'm helping Jace relax from his talk." Alyss replied, pulling double duty of rubbing Jace's tail and his ears.

"And I feel like I'm in heaven." Jace said through his heavy _purrs_ as he scritched and rubbed her ears.

"You have a good time with your friend?" Alyss asked Raine.

"Yeah, it was good talking to her again. If no one else was busy, I would've had her meet you guys," Raine answered with a smile, "So, how'd it go with Alex?"

Jace and Alyss took a break so they could talk clearly. "Really good. I told him everything and… he accepted me. He's my brother and _damn_ we look similar."

"So is that it?" Auron spoke up, "You're both good with it all?"

"Yeah. Dad's gonna be here sometime and we'll talk more then. You guys can meet them too. Both Alex and dad."

"Think he'll remember who my sister is?" Raine asked.

"Probably. He's not the type to forget who he helps or who helps him." Jace answered.

"How'd Alex take it?" Auron asked, "Y'know, about _them_."

"He never wants to see them or be associated with them ever again."

"How's that gonna work. exactly? He's got their name."

Jace gave a grin. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

* * *

"Rummy!" Raine called and picked up the seven card, immediately laying it down with two other sevens to empty her hand.

"Damn it, that's where that seven was." Genesis groaned and he showed what he was trying to go for, a five and six, then an eight and a nine of hearts.

"At least you have points. I completely lost." Jace said, tossing his cards on the table in annoyance.

"Maybe next game." Alyss told him with a laugh.

Auron laughed as he finished counting his points up. "Raine, you mighta went out, but I still won."

"Man, the person that empties their hand should be the one that wins." Raine complained.

They all spent the morning the next Saturday in the library, just playing cards to pass the time. The week had been more bearable than the last as Jace grew more used to the heavy scents and the loud talking. He had grown to accept Michael and Liza as friends too since the two were truly trying to improve themselves and make it up to him that they had been, in Jace's words, incompetent fucks. There were other students around as well, such as RWBY playing a board game, JNPR studying, and multiple others studying as well.

The sound of someone clearing their throat drew the group's attention and they saw Glynda standing there. "You aren't gambling, are you?" She asked them.

"No ma'am," Auron answered, "It's just somethin' to pass the time."

"See that you keep it that way," Glynda nodded, "Mister Reznor, mister Galloway, you both are needed in the headmaster's office. I suggest you make your way there now."

Jace and Genesis rose from their seats quickly. "We'll be there right away," Jace told her, then he turned to the others, "See you in a bit."

"See you then." Alyss replied and the two left the library.

"What do you think this is about?" Jace asked Genesis.

"What do you think? It's not really a secret now that you and Alex are brothers," Genesis said, "Ozpin's probably wanting to talk about it."

"Makes sense."

After awhile of walking, the two reached the tower and entered, then they stood in the elevator as it went up. "What do you think he'll say first?" Jace asked.

"How am I supposed to know," Genesis laughed, "I'm not psychic."

"No, but at least you can guess."

"Maybe he'll just ask how we found out that you're related to Alex."

The elevator arrived to its destination and opened its doors, admitting them to the office.

"Thank you both for arriving so soon." Ozpin greeted them, taking his attention from the two others in the room.

"It was no trouble," Genesis said, "And I guess we know why you called us up here. Hey dad." He greeted Haile.

"Hey there," Haile greeted back, "Y'know, I didn't think I'd be back at Beacon to talk about this."

"I never thought I'd have a brother by blood either." Jace said.

"And I never thought my parents would be horrible people…" Alex added.

"I never believed two of my students, new students at that, would find themselves in this situation." Ozpin added in humor.

"I think we can all agree that this is just a weird situation." Genesis said.

"Maybe we should just talk about this and get any more awkwardness out of the way," Haile said, then turned to the boy he was talking to before Jace and Genesis arrived, "So Alex, you don't want to be associated with the Storms anymore?"

Alex shook his head quickly. "No… I really don't, sir."

Haile rolled his eyes. "You don't need to call me that."

"We've talked about this already, dad," Jace said and looked back to Alex, "Me and Gen want to have him be in our family."

"Really?" Haile asked with a grin.

"Yeah, they had the same horrible parents," Genesis said, "We want to help him with that like you helped us."

"Alright."

"That quick?" Genesis asked.

"Yeah. Like you said, they had the same parents," Haile answered and turned to Alex, "If you want it, then you can be part of the family."

"You're really okay with me just… showing up and being your son's brother?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I'm okay with it."

"Then th-thank you… Haile…"

"Just call me dad like these two," Haile grinned at him, "If you're gonna be my son, then that's probably what you should do."

"O-okay… dad." Alex said with a smile.

"I don't want to interrupt," Ozpin said, "But is there something else you want to speak about?"

"Yeah, one more thing," Jace said, "Alex, you said you want nothing to do with them anymore. I was thinking that maybe you can take dad's last name too. It would keep you from having their last name."

"That's a good idea, Jace." Haile commended him.

"Surprising that it came from you." Genesis added with a grin.

"Thanks dad. And shut it, Gen." Jace said to them both.

"What do you think?" Haile asked Alex, "You want my last name like Jace?"

"Do you really mean that I can use your last name?" Alex asked in happiness, "And I won't have theirs anymore?"

Haile nodded. "I really mean it."

"So… I would be Alex Reznor? Gods it sounds so awesome to not say Storm now."

"Is this what you wish?" Ozpin asked Alex.

"Yes sir," Alex said quickly, "It really is."

Ozpin nodded. "Consider it done. From now on, your records will show that you are Alex Reznor. I will tell General Ironwood this as well, considering you were his student."

Alex nodded and turned back to the other three. "So… I'm part of your family now?"

"Yeah. Welcome to the family." Jace said with a smile.

"Okay… I just wanna know something…" Alex turned to Genesis, "Why don't you have his last name?"

Genesis gave a sigh. "Yeah, I figured I'd have to tell you…"

"If it's a bad time, you don't have to right now." Alex told him.

"Better to do it sooner than later. The heating pipes in our home exploded and destroyed the house. My parents didn't make it and I had nowhere to go for awhile and I was stuck on the streets. Then dad found me and took me in. I just kept Galloway as my last name because I still love and miss them both, and I don't want to forget them."

"Oh… I'm sorry…" Alex said quietly.

"You don't have to be, man. All I can do is keep moving forward. It's what they'd want."

* * *

"It was nice to meet you, Haile." Aulin said as Haile and Jace were leaving her team's dorm.

"You too, Aulin. Good to know you'll keep him whipped in shape." Haile said with a grin.

"Definitely." Aulin giggled.

"It was a pleasure, Haile." Bell said and bowed to him.

"Hey, you don't have to be so formal. You don't need to bow to me." Haile told her.

"She's too polite not to." Inuvali remarked with a grin to his teammate.

"You can never be too polite, Inu." Bell smiled at him.

"Hey Aulin, the team name's being changed." Alex told her.

Aulin looked at him with surprise written in her face. "Shit, really? Why? I thought it worked…"

"Instead of an A at the end, it'll be an R. I'm a Reznor now."

Aulin breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you meant the whole name would change, you ass! I didn't want to have to get used to a new name."

Alex laughed as Bell spoke up. "So it will still be Silver. Just spelled S-L-V-R. That will be easier to understand."

"We're gonna go now," Jace told them all, "Dad still has to meet my team-"

"And the girl that keeps comforting him so much." Haile interrupted.

"Her too," Jace said with a blush, "We're gonna go. See you guys later.

SLVR bid their farewells and Jace led Haile next door to his room. "What'd you think of Alex's team?"

"They were nice. Looked like Aulin, Bell, and Inu were really close."

"They are. Their last teammate went to Alyss' old team. They're all great too. Sucks you're not here for long or you could meet them too."

Haile chuckled. "Give it time, I'm sure I will sometime."

Jace unlocked the door and opened it to see Auron and Raine playing cards. He stepped in and was immediately sent to the floor with his friend straddling his stomach. "This makes twice you've done this when I come back. Miss me?" Jace asked, knowing he was blushing heavily.

"Umm… maybe?" Alyss said with a shy smile as a red tint came to her cheeks.

"Am I… missing something?" Haile asked, raising an eyebrow at the scene before him.

Alyss looked up and immediately started blushing furiously. "Umm…"

"This is my dad. Dad, this is Alyss. My teammate and my best friend." Jace introduced the two.

Alyss jumped from Jace and stood up straight as Auron and Raine laughed in their seats. "H-hello sir! Sorry about that! I'm Alyss Wystar!" She greeted nervously and in embarrassment.

Haile gave a smile. "Yeah, I remember your name from when Jace told us who his new teammates were. Good to meet you. I'm Haile."

"About me tackling Jace like that…" Alyss looked down, "It's my nature. I like pouncing on people I feel comfortable with…"

"I don't mind it," Haile assured her, "It was kind of adorable to see."

"O-oh… Alright then… It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Alyss," Haile said, then he turned to the other two in the room, "I recognize you," He said to the short one, "You're Emowyn's little sister. She talked a lot about you. You look a lot like her."

"I get that a lot. I'm Raine. Thanks for helping her out." Raine greeted him.

"I wasn't just gonna leave her in a hospital in Atlas. No telling what they'd try to slip her," Haile said with a frown, then it easily returned to a smile, "Good to finally meet you."

"You too."

"And I take it you're Auron?" Haile asked the tall one.

"Yep. Auron Karmine," Auron greeted and stood from the table. He stepped over to Haile and shook his hand, "You raised Jace good."

"I'm glad you think so. Good to meet you."

"Likewise."

"Alright, I'm glad I got to meet your team," Haile said to Jace, "I'm gonna go talk with Ozpin some more now that we got the whole ' _brother_ ' situation done with."

"We can hang out some later. Me, you, Gen, and Alex," Jace said, "Anyone else too if they wanna join."

"I'll look forward to it."

* * *

"So you're Jace's friend? His _best_ friend? And you healed his arm?" Haile asked inquisitively as he spent time with Genesis, Alex, Jace, and the ' _best friend_ ' of his now-second youngest son later that day. They were in the nearly empty cafeteria, just talking with each other.

"Yes sir…" Alyss answered quietly and nervously.

"Don't be so formal," Haile gave a smile, "Just call me Haile. That's an amazing semblance you have."

"Thanks… I like helping people with it."

"It definitely shows," Genesis remarked, "I mean, helping Jace the first day you met him proved that."

"And you both already slept together?" Haile asked, grinning at the blushes on Jace and Alyss' faces after he asked.

"I-it wasn't anything bad…" Jace said, "She just fell asleep in my bed when she was scritching my ears."

"They're basically two little kittens." Genesis said.

"Shut up, Gen." Jace groaned.

"Mom would probably say the same thing." Alyss said.

"I'm just glad you're alright," Haile told him, "Be sure to cherish what friendships you have here."

Jace nodded. "I will. I'm not losing any of my friends."

"Good. You two could make a cute couple."

"Wh-what!? Dad, come on," Jace gave a nervous laugh, "You're killing me here."

"Hey… dad," Alex spoke up, a bit uneasy, but happy with saying that, "What was it like? Raising a Faunus in Atlas?"

"Kinda tough, honestly," Haile admitted, "I mean, a human raising a Faunus was always gonna bring certain problems. I didn't know anything about Faunus really. I had to find books for Jace to read and you can't find them in Atlas. I had to order those from Menagerie because, well, Atlas doesn't have much of anything useful about the subjects he needed to learn."

"Like scents, instincts, senses, and urges." Jace said.

"And he can tell you how weird it was to read certain things." Genesis added.

"That's kinda not what I meant…" Alex said lowly.

"Ah, you mean since it's Atlas?" Haile asked.

"I've kinda been wanting to know that too." Alyss said.

"When some of my employers found out I was raising a Faunus, they took issue with it," Haile answered, "And I took issue with that, so I had nothing to do with them anymore. Ironwood's one of the only few people I work for in Atlas and there's some missions I just won't take depending on where they come from now, like Jacques Schnee."

"Y'know, we're friends with his daughter," Jace said, "She's nothing like what I've heard of them."

"That's interesting. Didn't think a Schnee would be friends with Faunus unless it benefits them." Haile remarked.

"She's so much more different than her father," Alyss said and offered a small smile, "She's got the white hair, though. Same in that part. And she says her sister is about the same way too."

"Well as long as she's good and friendly, I don't care," Haile said, "Anyway, I didn't want to be taking missions that might put Jace near any racists that might say or do something. He's my son, no matter where he came from or what happened to him."

Alyss gave a wide smile. "Thank you for saving him."

Haile tilted his head. "Why exactly are you thanking me for saving him?" He asked with a grin.

"Because I would've never met him if you didn't. He's my best friend here and he's pretty great."

Jace gave a smile to himself at the words. _"I don't know how much more of this I can take… I really should tell her…"_

Haile gave a loud laugh. "That's never been a reason for someone to thank me before. I appreciate it, Alyss."

"You can just call me Aly. And I mean that. I really do." Alyss said and smiled at Jace.

Jace smiled back and gave her a light hug. "That's a sweet thing to say."

"What did I say?" Genesis said with a grin, "Two kittens."

Alyss giggled. "I'm not denying that, honestly."

* * *

"It was good seeing you again Oz," Haile said and shook the headmaster's hand, "I still want to know how you look like you haven't aged at all."

Ozpin gave a chuckle. "You will be disappointed to know that is a secret, Haile. It was good to have you visit. Perhaps you can teach a combat class someday."

"I'll think about it. Now, keep these three in line for me," Haile said and looked to his sons, including the newest member to his family, "Especially Jace and Genesis."

"All we do us play cards in our free time," Genesis grinned, "I swear we don't get into anything bad."

"A lot of my free time usually goes to relaxing and talking with Alyss." Jace said quietly for himself.

"I'm sure Haile has already told you to cherish your time with your friends, so I will save you that," Ozpin told Jace, "And please try to do your schoolwork as well."

Jace nodded and gave a smile. "Don't worry about that. We get our homework done before we relax."

"That is good to know. Now, I believe I will leave you to say your goodbyes." Ozpin said and left the family at the airdocks.

"Thanks for letting me know about this, boys," Haile said to Genesis and Jace, then he turned to Alex, "I'm glad to have you as another son."

"Thanks dad. I'm really glad I decided to come here." Alex replied.

"I can say the same thing, but for another reason." Jace said with a smile, taking a short glance back to where Alyss was walking back to the dorms.

"I'm glad I got to meet your team," Haile said to him, "Alyss is a really sweet girl."

"Yeah, she's pretty damn awesome." Jace said with a more dopey smile.

Genesis pulled Jace to the side and whispered very quietly to him. "Hey, you remember what I said?"

"Yeah, Gen…" Jace answered quietly, "I can't though… I can't bring myself to say it."

"You have to just build up your courage, man," Genesis told him, "If you just get it off your chest, you'll feel a lot better."

"How would you know?"

"Paige told me before. Back when he tried asking Terra he had the same problems and he just went for it. You need to tell her."

"I'm gonna try but… it's just hard because I've never been in this situation, man. And you know I'm not used to it."

"I know, and I can understand that. And listen, you remember what all you read, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just remember about what the books said about relationships."

Jace nodded slowly as a blush rose in his cheeks. "Gen…"

"Like I said, you might regret it if you don't ask. And if you think she might be the one, then I say go for it when you're ready and sure. She's a sweet and caring and beautiful girl and I think you found a great friend."

"Th-thanks, Gen. I really think I love her."

"I see that whenever you look at her. Just remember what I said."

"What are you boys whispering about over there?" Haile spoke up behind them.

"Nothing, dad," Genesis said and turned around, "Just telling Jace how cool I think this school is."

Haile nodded and grinned. "I'm glad you think so. I had a lot of good times here. We all made bets on when Ozpin would snap and yell at us all and he never did."

"He _does_ seem calm and collected all the time." Alex said.

"He was always calm about everything. Even when some people graffitied the side of the cafeteria. We took bets on what he always drinks too."

"I'm guessing people bet whiskey?" Genesis asked.

"I know I did," Haile laughed, "No one knows to this day."

"Maybe it's just coffee with a lot of whiskey mixed in," Jace suggested, settling his mind from what Genesis said to him, "From what our friends said, the bets go on Glynda now since she's his assistant."

Haile shrugged. "It still has me curious. But now I'm mostly curious on how he looks the same as twenty years ago."

"Having a crisis?" Genesis asked.

Haile laughed and shook his head. "No, just curiosity," He gave a loud sigh, "I guess it's about time I left. I had to put an extermination on hold to be here."

"We'll be alright here. We're supposed to be going on our first missions in a few weeks." Jace told him.

"Oh good. Too bad you're only supposed to go within the kingdom as first years, then you could visit."

"Yeah, but I have where I wanna go for a mission if they have one available. Calm."

"Why Calm?" Genesis asked.

"Because my favorite apples come from there."

"You and your apples, I swear." Genesis sighed in good nature.

"Just so you know, Jace really likes apples." Haile said to Alex.

"Oh I know. He's ate a few every day this week." Alex replied.

Haile nodded and brought all of his sons in for a hug. "You kids take care of yourselves. Call if you ever need me."

"We will." Genesis said.

"And that means you too, Alex. You might be new, but you're as much of a son Jace or Gen is."

"Right… Thanks dad," Alex said and wrapped his arms around Haile, "Thanks for being the father I never had."

Haile separated from them and boarded the airship. Soon after, it took off from the pad and the three brothers waved in goodbye. Jace glanced over and saw tears in Alex's eyes. He smiled and pulled him in for a one-armed hug.

"You're family now, Alex."

"Yeah… Thanks, guys."

"Like dad said, you're as much of a brother to me as Jace is." Genesis said and put his arm around his shoulders from the other side.

"Never thought this would happen…" Alex said quietly, "Thanks again for telling me the truth."

"No problem," Jace said, "You had every right to know, as hard as it was to learn it."

"I can't believe your own parents did that to you… Gods, you've bounced back from it."

Jace nodded and smiled. "I really have. And I have great friends that accept me. That's all I can ever hope for."


	16. Chapter 16: Would You?

**Act Two: Firsts**

 **Chapter Sixteen:**

 **Would you…?**

After two weeks, things had been picking up at Beacon. Classes were becoming more difficult which required most of JKDW's free time to complete the homework, leaving them drained for the most part. Jace had been spending more time in the library than what he'd like, trying to get his work done as fast as he could, and he had tried to make a few trips with Genesis and Alex to the sparring areas to train with them. Raine was with him in the first thing, both of them helping each other with what they needed. Alyss was usually in the dorm room studying and doing homework by herself, preferring the solitude of the room rather than the library for work. Auron made frequent trips back and forth between his team offering what little helphe felt he could as well, which everyone appreciated. It was made easier when the work tapered off the last couple of days, but that left Jace with a new problem.

The dance.

Yang told them all that the dance was coming up and Jace had no idea before that there was even going to be one. It wasn't something anyone told him about when he first arrived at Beacon. That was one more thing to have on his mind. It would be his first dance he would go to. It was set to take place the Saturday before the first-years took their first missions. Then came the question from Genesis.

"You gonna ask her to the dance?"

The two were hanging out with Alex at the training rooms on a Friday after school. ' _Hanging out_ ' as in fighting against the training droids with Jace and Genesis going back to back like they had many times in Atlas' virtual reality simulations. The two watched in awe at seeing Alex's fighting style for the first time. The way he stuck the hilt of his katana in the heel of his boot and just kicked at the bots was amazing to see. The three took a short break after taking down fifty of the training bots.

"I…" Jace sighed, "I want to…but…"

"But what? You love her, so ask her. C'mon, it's simpler than you're making it out to be." Genesis said with a big grin.

Jace sighed. "I know… You know how nervous I am about this though."

"Yeah, I know. You're gonna have to ask sooner or later. Raine already has her date and Auron isn't a dancing person from what he said."

"You probably should, y'know?" Alex said, "Someone else might if you don't."

"I'll try to ask this weekend…" Jace said quietly, "Gods, I wouldn't know how."

"Easy. _'Hey, you wanna go to the dance with me?_ ' Simple as that," Genesis said, "I asked Nika-"

"Wait, you asked Nika to the dance?" Jace asked with a small grin, "Did she say yes?"

"Yeah, she did," Genesis said with a smile, "I've kinda liked her for awhile. I'm glad she did."

"I guess you're doing a better job of hiding it than me," Jace said, "Unless I'm just not paying too much attention to how you act around her."

"People are different. That's all I can say."

"And Aulin asked me," Alex said for himself, "I just said yes right there. Bell's going with Inu."

Jace groaned and threw his head back. "Damn it… My head's going between schoolwork and Alyss as fast as Ruby can go with her semblance..."

"At least they're giving a bit of a break with all the schoolwork before the dance." Alex said.

"At least there's that. Fuck it… I'll try to ask her tomorrow." Jace said, then the group went back to training.

* * *

Alyss wasn't having a very good week. She laid in her bed since she returned from classes and just thought to herself. Focusing on the crushing amount of schoolwork was one thing, but now her thoughts were focused solely on another thing entirely. Since she found out about the dance, only one person occupied her mind. She wanted to ask Jace to be her date, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything out of nervousness.

What made it worse was when a few people asked her and she had turned them down, a couple of girls had asked but more boys. Most were okay with it and shrugged it off, but a few of them seemed sad and that made her feel horrible. There was a very timid-looking girl she had turned down that had such a disappointed and sad look in her eyes when she said she was already planning on asking someone, and she hated to do that to people. But her mind, and her heart, was set to one person.

"Thinking about Jace?"

The question came from Raine, who had been watching Alyss' frown deepen for the past few minutes from the table.

"You don't think he already found a date, do you?" Alyss asked, hoping it wasn't true. She made no attempts to try to hide her feelings around Raine. She had grown to really trust the diminutive apprentice and she felt she could just talk freely with her, especially considering a Ranger's ability to keep secrets.

"I doubt it, honestly," Raine answered her, "He hasn't really made much friends outside of us and the few teams we actually met and most of them already have dates."

"Speaking of that… is Vivi even allowed to go?" Alyss asked curiously, "I mean, she's not a student."

"Yeah, I asked Ozpin and he said it's okay. Vivi asked Remington, our boss basically, and he said she can come too."

"That's nice of them."

"She's only twenty one. She graduated last year so Ozpin's just being nice to one of his recent graduates." Raine said with a smile.

Alyss gave a sigh. "You have Vivi, Bell has Inu, Nika has Genesis, Aulin has Alex, Sapphire has Zack, Heath has Barrett, Tyr has Ashe, Terra has Paige…" Alyss named off the couples and stared at the ceiling, "I want to go with Jace but I don't know how to ask…"

"Maybe during one of your scritching sessions?" Raine suggested, "Honestly, I think you two would look great together and that's not because of your ears. You two would make a cute couple."

Alyss laughed a bit. "Jace's dad said the same thing…"

"And he's right." Raine agreed.

"I'll… I'll ask him tomorrow. I'm gonna see if he wants a scritching session and I'm gonna ask." Alyss said in determination.

"About the dance or about your feelings for him?" Raine asked softly.

Alyss bit her lip and put a hand over her chest. "E-everything."

"You wanna know what I went by when I asked Vivi?" Raine asked her.

"What was it?"

"You might regret it if you don't," Raine told her, "I overheard Genesis tell Heath the same thing about Barrett. She likes him, y'know?"

"I haven't noticed, really…" Alyss sighed, "I've just been distracted with my own feelings. I hardly even noticed how much time they've been hanging out together."

"It's alright. I'm sure everyone would understand that you're going through your own thoughts because of this," Raine gave her an encouraging smile, "Now, what are you gonna do?"

"I'm… I'm gonna tell him."

* * *

"Jace did everything you said. He shoulda done it right an' it should be good, right?" Auron asked his mother over the scroll the next morning.

"Yes, Auron. As long as you had the measurements right then the pie should be ready to eat later when it's good and cooled." Kathy answered. Auron had it on speaker so both he and Jace could talk to her about making a type of no-bake pie using a good amount of cherry drink mix, whipped cream, and just a couple of other ingredients.

"Thanks for the help, mom. I can never remember how to make these things."

"You're not the one that made it." Jace remarked.

"So, who's it for?" Kathy asked.

"It's for our teammate," Jace answered her, "I'm gonna ask her to the dance and I wanted to make her something she likes. But I don't know how to fix anything other than noodles so I needed help."

"Oh that's sweet. Be sure to keep it refrigerated until it's ready."

"It's a good thing Auron thought to buy a little refrigerator for our room a couple days ago," Jace gave a grin to his teammate, "That's gonna help out in the future."

"I'm sure it will. Good luck with your friend, Jace." Kathy said, then the call was ended.

"Y'know, I got it to keep jerky from other people that might mess with it," Auron said, "I never expected to help you with somethin' like this."

Jace smiled as he finished shoveling chopped-up fish into a pot and started mixing it all. "Thanks for helping, Auron."

"You sure you wanna do all this for her?" Auron asked.

Both of them were in the communal kitchen of the dorms preparing food. Well, Jace was preparing the food. But it was only for that certain emerald and sapphire-eyed cat Faunus. It was only going to be a bowl of noodles with fish and vegetables cooked in. Then for the dessert, Auron had overseen Jace to make the pie while Kathy had given the instructions over the scroll.

"Yeah. I kinda wanna make a good case for her to say yes." Jace replied.

"I'm sure she'd say yes anyway. She's too nice not to, ya know?"

Jace gulped hard and grew nervous. "I love her, you know…"

"We've all noticed with how much you smile when you're around her and how often you two have your little sessions," Auron replied, "Just tell her." He said bluntly.

"That's what everyone keeps telling me… It's just hard for me because this is the first time I've dealt with something like this."

"It ain't gonna do ya too well if you keep that in ya. Maybe doin' all this'll help."

"Hopefully…" Jace said and finished stirring the noodles.

After a few minutes, the noodles finished cooking and Jace put them into a bowl, then he grabbed two forks and a knife. "I'm gonna ask her to the dance. Then if she says yes… then I'll tell her there."

"That's one way to do it. You got about two weeks. Can ya wait 'till then?" Auron asked.

"I've waited since I told you guys everything. I hope I can last this much longer."

Auron gave a nod as he handed Jace the pie. "Alright. This is your part o' the job."

"I've been doing everything!" Jace said in a huff.

"I've been overlookin' everything you did for the pie an' the fish so you didn't fuck up," Auron grinned, "That's a lot to do for me too. Now it's all you."

"I guess so," Jace mumbled, shaking his head, "If you don't mind, why don't you want to go to the dance?" He asked.

Auron shook his head in return. "I'll be goin' but I won't be dancin'. I just like seein' my friends have fun an' be happy, so that's why I'm goin'."

"And you don't have anyone to go with… You'll be lonely, won't you?"

"It's fine. I haven't talked with anyone that's really caught my feelin's like Alyss has yours. I ain't shook up about it."

"Okay then. Thanks for the help, man."

"Like I said, I like seein' my friends happy. Go get your date."

Jace walked from the kitchen and walked slowly down the hall as he thought to himself. This was his chance to tell her, to finally confess what he kept to himself for the past month. To be truthful to himself, he couldn't wait for the dance to tell her. He couldn't stand one more minute or second of keeping that inside of him, keeping what he felt from Alyss. He wanted to be able to love her openly, he wanted her to be the first person he has ever loved.

But, with those thoughts came the nervousness again _. "What if she says no? What if I did this for nothing and I wasted Auron and Kathy's time? What if I just make a damn fool of myself?"_

He shook his head quickly. He didn't need those thoughts at all right now. _"No, even if she doesn't want to go, this'll make her happy. And if she's happy, then that just makes my days so much better,"_ He started smiling to himself, _"I'd do anything to see her smile-"_

"Ooohhh… Whazzat?"

So caught up in his thoughts, Jace didn't see the short form of Nora standing in front of him with Ren by her side. "Oh, hey Nora. It's a no-bake cherry pie and a bowl of fish noodles."

"Ooh that looks so good…" Nora almost drooled and stared at the pie, slowly reaching out for it, "Can I try?"

"Umm… Sorry, but I made it for Alyss." Jace answered her, seeing her shoulders slump.

"Just a little taste?" Nora begged.

"Nora, don't pester him," Ren told her gently, "Don't you realize why he made the pie?"

Nora thought for a few seconds before the realization hit her. "Oh that's so sweet!"

"Thanks… It's the only thing I could think of," Jace said and turned to Ren, "If you want the recipe to make one, you could probably ask Auron. You can make a bunch of different pies if you have the drink mix for it."

"I will consider it. It's very thoughtful of you to do this for her." Ren told him.

"I kinda wanted it to be special since I'm asking her to the dance. She really loves cherry, so I figured I'd try it."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"Ren, I want strawberry pie!" Nora cheered.

Jace laughed and separated from the two and continued walking down the hall. _"Man, I'm glad Ren reigned Nora in. I don't think I'd have a pie left to give if he didn't…"_ He chuckled to himself and went back to his previous thoughts.

 _"So… this is what it's like to be in love with someone? I could do without my chest feeling weird, but other than that it feels good. Maybe… maybe I should tell her sooner…"_

When he arrived at his room he knocked on the door with his head, not able to reach his scroll with his hands full. From what he knew, Alyss would be in there alone so he would have plenty of time to ask her. Auron went to hang out with Pyrrha and Jaune for a bit and Raine was spending time with Aulin and Bell.

After a few moments, the door opened and Jace was greeted by the sight he loved to see now. "Hi Alyss."

"Umm, hey. Where have you been?" She asked him as she stepped out of the way, shutting the door behind Jace as he entered.

"I was doing a bit of cooking for you. Just to be nice." Jace smiled and went to put the pie in the refrigerator next to Auron's desk.

"You cooked for me?" She asked, taking a deep sniff of the air and smelling a mix between salmon and cherry.

"Yeah. Keeps you from having to go to the cafeteria today. Here you go," Jace said and handed her the bowl and a fork, "It's just noodles with vegetables and fish chopped up in it. I hope you like it."

"It smells really good. Thank you, Jace." Alyss gave a warm smile and sat at the table.

"No problem." Jace said and sat across from her.

Alyss took a bite of the noodles and _hummed_ happily, swallowing the food. "This tastes really good. I didn't know you could cook too."

"Well, noodles are the only thing I know how to fix. The only thing I did with the salmon was cut it up since you said you liked raw fish better. I'm glad you like it," Jace said and pulled out a bottle of water and a packet of cherry drink mix from his pocket. He opened the lid of the bottle and ripped the top off the packet, then poured it's contents into the water. He tightened the cap on the water and shook it, then set it in front of Alyss after he cooled it with ice dust, "Here's this too."

"Gods Jace, what's the occasion?" She asked, sounding rather hopeful.

"We can talk about that over dessert." Jace said with a nervous smile.

"I smelled cherry when you brought it in."

"Well… It's a kind of cherry pie. Auron helped me make it. It's no-bake and it was quick."

"Okay, I'm gonna eat now because I really want to try it." Alyss said and started eating the noodles a bit faster.

After a few minutes, Alyss had eaten them and set the bowl aside. Jace retrieved the pie from the refrigerator and set it on the table. "Hmm, I don't know if this got cooled enough."

"Does that mean I have to wait?" Alyss asked, a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Not if I can help it." Jace said and lifted the pie up. He focused ice dust to his hands and radiated it through his palms and fingertips with his aura. After a few moments, Jace stopped when he guessed it would be alright. He set it down on the table and cut the pie with the knife he brought, then he put a piece on a small paper plate for Alyss. He set the other fork on the plate and pushed it forward to her.

"This looks so good…" Alyss said as her mouth nearly watered over it.

"You really like cherry don't you?" Jace asked her.

She nodded quickly. "Yeah! Black cherry, wild cherry, and just regular cherries too. Just any type of cherry. I love it!"

"I had to keep Nora from getting hold of it on the way here. I'm glad Ren was there to get her to not pounce on it."

After a moment, Alyss sent her fork into the pie and retrieved a rather large chunk of it. She shoved it in her mouth and her eyes immediately closed in pleasure as she gave a soft _moan_.

"I guess that means you like it." Jace said, blushing at the sound she made.

"Oh Oum I really do, Jace! This is amazing!" Alyss said and tore into the piece of pie, leaving Jace smiling at the sight.

"I really have Auron and his mom to thank," Jace said, "His mom went over all the ingredients over the scroll and Auron made sure I didn't mess up."

After Alyss finished that piece, she wiped at her mouth and smiled. "It's so good…"

"And it's all yours too." Jace told her.

"Really? Umm… Why exactly did you make it?"

Jace took a deep breath as he tried to will the blush away from his cheeks. "I-umm… I was wanting to know if you'd maybe…" Jace sighed and shook his head. He took another deep breath and looked straight at Alyss.

"I was wondering if you'd wanna go to the dance with me." He finally pushed out, barely audible if he was talking with a human.

"You're asking me to the dance?" Alyss echoed and gave a wide smile.

"Y-yeah… Do you want to be my date?"

"Oh Jace, yes I'll be your date!" Alyss said in excitement.

"Really? You really wanna go with me?" Jace asked, starting to smile as wide as Alyss.

"Yes, I'll go with you. Gods, you're the only one I wanted to go with…" Alyss said shyly.

"Really? _I_ am?" Jace asked, "I'm sure you could've asked almost anyone and they'd go…"

"There were a lot of people that asked and I turned down… Some of them looked so sad…" Alyss looked into his eyes, "I turned them down because I wanted to ask you."

"Oh… I-I'm so glad but…" Jace swallowed a lump in his throat, "But why _me_ …?"

"Because no one besides mom has ever comforted me like you have," Alyss answered, "You're just… so awesome. I've been wanting to ask you but I was nervous to…"

"I really never thought someone as pretty as you would want to go to the dance with me…" Jace said, showing a smaller smile.

"Why… did you want to ask me?" Alyss asked.

Jace paused at that. Why would she want to know that? "B-because you're my best friend… You comforted me so much too and you helped me deal with worrying over Alex. I… I really wanted to be able to spend more time with you… Gen told me that I might regret it if I didn't. That's what really pushed me to ask. I was scared I'd make a fool of myself after doing this for you and I'm glad you want to go with me."

"You might regret it if you don't…" Alyss echoed quietly, remembering what Raine had said she overheard, "D-do you remember how I said I never loved anyone in Shade? How I never felt any connection?"

"Y-yeah… I remember." Jace answered her.

"Well, I did date someone. Zack. That was before we went to Shade and we both thought we found our soulmate, but it didn't work out for us. I'm so glad we stayed friends after we broke up and I'm even more glad we were on the same team. He's like a brother, kinda. He found Sapphire and he told me he felt a connection for her that he didn't feel with me. Then they started dating."

"It's good that you stayed friends… I've seen people break up in Atlas and it was just bad." Jace said quietly, wondering just where Alyss was going with this.

"Mom told me that some people share a certain connection. Zack does with Sapphire, Nora said she does with Ren. I-I feel it…" Alyss said, looking back into Jace's ruby-red eyes.

"Y-you do…? Who do you…?"

"Jace… You said it. ' _You might regret it if you don't_ '…" Alyss took a deep breath, "I feel that connection. I feel it so strongly right now… I-I feel it with you…"

"M-me? You feel that… with me?"

"Yes, Jace… I-I… I love you."

Those three words made Jace's heartbeat skyrocket. "You… love me?"

Alyss nodded and slowly reached out to lay her hand over his on the table. "I really do…"

They were silent for several moments. Alyss' eyes started shining with tears as she looked down. She started to think that he didn't feel the same way. She slowly started to withdraw her hand, but Jace placed his other hand over it. He flipped his other hand over and pressed his palm against hers

"I love you too, Alyss."

She looked up quickly to see the wide smile covering Jace's face. "Really? You do?"

"I do. Ever since you comforted me like that, I knew I loved you. I wanted to spend more time with you and I wanted to always see your smile. I always wanted to make you happy," Jace looked at the pie that was sitting on the table, "I was only gonna ask you to the dance today… and wait until then to tell you this. But I didn't want to wait. I wanted to tell you that too but I was scared you wouldn't say it back… But you said it first and I said it back to you. Gods, I love you Alyss."

Alyss smiled as tears of happiness fell down her cheeks. "We're both so stupid, y'know? I mean… we spent so much time together lately. Everyone else knew I loved you."

"And they knew I loved you. It was Gen that really kept telling me to go for it and Auron told me earlier… But we just couldn't see that we loved each other…" Jace laughed as his eyes started to tear up as well.

"Is that why you made the pie and the noodles for me?"

"Yeah… I only wanted to make it for you because I love you… I wanted to make a good case for you to say yes about the dance."

"You didn't have to make me anything. I would've said yes anyway."

"But I wanted to," Jace rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb, "I always wanted someone to love… but I could never get that back in Atlas… That's kind of a reason I decided to come here too. So I could hopefully find someone and I did. I found you. I... found my dream."

Alyss gave a soft giggle at that. "Me too… That's so sappy to say."

"Can't help it if it's true." Jace said.

They stared into each others eyes for more than a few moments, Jace finding comfort in those emerald and sapphire orbs of hers. They wordlessly stood from their seats and moved around the table, meeting halfway. They pulled each other close in a light hug, then they shared a slow kiss as Jace's tail lightly wrapped around them and rested on her waist. It was nothing more than their lips lightly pressing against one another's, but it held the emotion they both kept deep within them for weeks.

They pulled back and Jace pressed his forehead against hers. "You're the best person I've ever met…" Jace told her.

"I think the same way about you." Alyss murmured.

"So… are you gonna eat more of the pie, or do you wanna do something else?" Jace asked, thinking of only one thing.

Alyss' eyes lightened up more at the question. "Scritching session?"

"Gods yes. Let me put the pie in the fridge."


	17. Chapter 17: Preparations

**Chapter Seventeen**

 **Preparations**

"Thanks."

The sudden word from Jace confused Michael, making him just stare at the unnatural Faunus for a few moments. Jace had asked to talk with him alone in between Grimm studies and advanced dust techniques.

"What exactly are you thanking me for?" Michael asked.

Jace grinned. "For pulling my tail."

"What? Why are you thanking me for that?" Michael was completely confused now.

"Because I wouldn't have switched schools otherwise. I wouldn't have met Alyss and I wouldn't be dating her now. So thanks."

"Umm… You're welcome? I guess?" Michael rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean, I'm glad you're happy with her now, but I'm still sorry about pulling your tail."

"I forgive you completely."

"Just... tell me if you want me to yank on it again." Michael said with a small grin.

"Listen, only Alyss is allowed to touch my tail," Jace told him, shooting him a bit of a glare, "You grab it again, your hands are getting frozen to your crotch."

"G-got it." Michael looked away and looked down.

Jace laughed and patted him on the back. "It's alright. I wouldn't go as far to do that, but seriously. Don't touch my tail again."

* * *

"Do I really have to get a suit? Can't I just use my school uniform?" Jace asked as he, Genesis, Alex, Barrett, and Zack were in a higher-end clothing store the following weekend. The week had been so amazing to both Jace and Alyss. They were far more comfortable around each other now that there was no need to avoid the topic of if one loved the other. It freed their minds of so many worries and they had picked up their pace with schoolwork because of it.

"If you want to do the same thing as just about everyone else," Genesis answered while he looked over a suit on a mannequin. It had a dark crimson coat, sleek black pants, and a black vest with a brighter red dress shirt under it, "How do you think this would look on me?"

"It would really bring out your eyes." Alex said and rolled his eyes.

"Green or blue?"

"Both, probably. What do you think Aulin would like?"

"Maybe somethin' with dark purple. She really likes that color." Barrett said as he looked over himself in the full-body mirror. He chose to go with a mostly full bright orange suit and an untucked charcoal-colored dress shirt. It was too tight for him, so he would have to have one specially tailored to him.

"Good idea. Helps me that you were on her team." Alex grinned.

"And it helps me that Zack's on Heath's." Barrett said.

"Ya see, that's the trick. You find something that matches your date's favorite color or her eyes or her hair." Zack gave a laugh. He sat on a nearby bench with a few bags next to him. They held a pair of blue suit pants and a blue dress shirt, along with a white tie.

"I guess you would know from experience, right?" Jace asked him.

"Yep. But _you_ have a bit of a problem because of how Alyss has blue and green eyes and her favorite color is purple. Those colors don't really go that great together. At least in my opinion." Zack told him.

"I'll think of something…" Jace crossed his arms and _hummed_ , "I hope."

"So Jace, I hear you thanked Michael for grabbing your tail." Genesis remarked as Alex walked off to a changing room.

"You thanked him for that?" Zack asked, raising an eyebrow at Jace.

"I wouldn't have met Alyss if he didn't," Jace answered with a smile, "But I told him if he did it again, I'd freeze his hands to his crotch."

"I bet that made his face pale." Barrett remarked.

"It did," Jace laughed, "Alyss is the only one that I want to ever touch it. My ears are fine for other people, but my tail is off limits."

"You're such a little kitten sometimes." Genesis said.

Jace shrugged. "Yep. I'm not denying that."

After a few minutes, Alex returned wearing his suit. "How's this?" He wore black pants and a black and dark purple vertical striped jacket with a full black collar. Under that was a dark purple dress shirt.

"Pretty good. Aulin's gonna like it." Barrett told him.

"You still haven't found anything?" Alex asked Jace.

"No… I kinda need something so my tail won't be uncomfortable too." Jace sighed.

"Excuse me, do you need help?" One of the employees came by and asked, having overheard a small part of what was said. She was a Faunus with a long and bushy fox tail.

"Yes, please," Jace said and walked over to her, "I need something so my tail will be okay."

"Ah, I know the pain," The woman chuckled, "Well, you were in the wrong section for that. What's the occasion?"

"There's a dance at Beacon in a week." Jace answered her as the two walked through the store.

"Oh, okay. Do you have any ideas on what you want?"

"Not really. My girlfriend's favorite color is purple and her eyes are blue and green and then she wears white with her combat outfit too. I'm kinda trying to go by that."

"Hmm… A tricky color combination… We'll get you something."

Jace gave a sigh. _"I wonder if Alyss is doing any better."_

* * *

"Damn, Alyss. You look great in that." Heath said to her friend. In another store separate from their dates, Alyss, Raine, Heath, Aulin, and Bell were shopping for dresses. Heath wore a bright-orange dress that was tight against her torso. It was simple with straps over her shoulders and it was loose over her legs, reaching down to her knees. Completing that was a pair of Mistralian sandals with straps and laces up and down her calves.

"You think so?" Alyss asked and looked at herself in a mirror. She wore a low-cut purple dress that went down to her knees with a slit up the right side of it and with three white stripes across her legs. The middle was a transparent black, showing off her toned stomach. The dress hugged her form perfectly. She also found a pair of Mistralian sandals as well, like Heath's.

"Definitely," Aulin agreed, "You look pretty damn sexy. Jace is gonna drool all over the place when he sees you." She wore a midnight-purple, open-chested dress with a collar that hugged her neck, leaving her shoulders bare. It went down to the middle of her thighs and her arms were adorned with black sleeves, connected to rings which were around her pinky and index fingers. Unlike the other two, she found a pair of black high heels to wear.

Alyss nodded as she blushed at the thought. "The transparent part isn't too much, is it?"

"No, it is great. You look gorgeous, Aly." Bell told her. She had no need to buy a dress as she already had one. A red dress with the neck and top of her chest exposed that extended all the way down to her calves, the lower half adorned with gold designs of flowers and stems attaching to them. The sleeves, much like her combat outfit, were white and frilly on the insides. She only chose to go with a pair of white slippers for her feet. She accompanied her friends anyway, glad to be able to relax and spend time with them.

"Thanks Bell. Okay, I'll get it. It would go great with my necklace and my armstockings." Alyss said.

"Now Raine, do you wanna stop being grumpy and find a dress too?" Aulin asked her fox Faunus friend.

"I am _not_ grumpy. I just don't do skirts." Raine told her for the fifth time.

"If you are uncomfortable, you could wear leggings or dress pants under it," Bell suggested, "That would be a simple solution, would it not?"

Raine thought it over for a few moments and sighed. "Fine. Give me a few minutes." She said and walked around.

After a few moments, Heath came up behind Alyss and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Kitty Cat."

"Thanks, Heath," Alyss said with a smile, "I'm really happy too."

"We can really tell. That smile hardly left your face for the past week." Aulin said.

"And she has good reason to be happy," Bell said, "She and Jace make a very adorable couple."

"Oh I know!" Heath agreed, "The way Alyss just rubs her head against his shoulder is just the cutest thing!"

"Their scritching sessions get adorable too," Raine said as she returned, "I'm sure they have you to thank for the idea, Heath." Everyone looked to her and Alyss grinned. She wore a low cut dark-green dress that was much like Heath's except it was tight everywhere and reached halfway down her thighs and it had a wide blue sash around its midsection. Under that she wore a pair of dark-blue leggings that covered her legs and she wore a pair of half-inch heels on her feet.

"Oh wow, Raine. That looks really good on you." Alyss complemented her.

"Thanks…" Raine blushed and crossed her arms, "I never wore a dress before. Never had a reason to."

"And now you do. I don't know who Vivi is, but I'm sure she'll love the way you look." Heath told her.

"I-it's not like we're dating, so it doesn't really matter." Raine said quietly.

"Hey, you're both Rangers and you're best friends," Aulin said, "She'll like it even if you're not dating. And she'll probably be glad you wanted to look good for her."

Raine blushed harder and looked down. "Maybe…"

Alyss looked from Raine and turned to Aulin, who had a grin on her face. She leaned in close and whispered. "Is she…?"

"Madly in love with Vivi? Yeah," Aulin whispered back, "Been that way since we first met. I see the way she acts when Vivi's mentioned. She looks down or crosses her arms and blushes a lot. And when I met Vivi? Raine had this smile on her face like you always had when you were around Jace."

"Oh, that's interesting to know." Alyss said.

"Okay, I'll get this one," Raine said after thinking over the decision, "I'm going to change out of this now."

* * *

"This took a lot more thinking than what I care to admit." Jace said to his group, standing in front of a mirror. It took him nearly thirty minutes to find an outfit with the help of the Faunus woman. He wore a pair of black pants, a purple vest and a white dress shirt under it. On his right bicep was a purple strap, binding the shirt sleeve to his arm.

"Going with matching her combat outfit?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, I figured that would be the best route to take. Plus it was simple." Jace answered.

"That why it took about an hour to find?" Genesis asked with a smirk.

"Thirty minutes, you ass," Jace corrected and shot him a glare, then he gulped and took a deep breath, "I hope she likes it."

"Of course she will. You're the one wearing it." Zack told him.

"Huh… You think?"

"I _know_. Dogs are smart," Zack grinned and pointed at his floppy dog ears, "When we dated, she never looked at me the way she looks at you. She's gonna love it no matter what you wear."

Jace gave a smile. "Thanks, Zack."

"Gods, that's sappy." Barrett remarked.

"Whatever, Bear. It's true." Zack told him.

"Is everyone gonna call me that?" Barrett asked with a sigh.

"I don't hear you complaining when Heath says it." Zack said.

"I'm not sayin' anything to that."

The group finished their shopping and paid for their items, then they made their way out of the store. They walked down the street to where they were supposed to meet the others at a small accessory store. Along the way, Jace saw the two dog Faunus, Caitlyn and Jack, at a different stand with another dog Faunus, large and muscled.

"Hey, I'll meet you guys there." Jace said and ran across the street.

"The hell is he doing?" Alex asked.

"Probably getting apples." Genesis replied.

Jace quickly made his way over to the stand and gave the Faunus a smile. "Hello Caitlyn. Hello Jack." He greeted them.

"Oh, hello Jace," Caitlyn greeted back, "You sound more chipper than usual."

"That's because I'm so happy. I'm dating the girl I told you about before."

"Really? That's nice."

Jace nodded. "And I'm going to the dance with her and that just makes me happier."

"Hey Caity, who's this?" The large dog Faunus asked curiously, his dog ears perking up.

"Oh, this is Jace," Caitlyn answered, "Since he arrived in Vale a month or so ago, he's given us great business."

"He bought a lot of apples. He really likes them." Jack added.

"So that's where that influx of lien came from," The Faunus grinned, "I'm Mabari. Her mate. Good to meet you."

"You too, but I'm not here for apples today," Jace told them, "Well, maybe one. But I'm mostly here for cherries."

"Cherries? You're lucky. We just received a new crate of them. They're very popular," Caitlyn said, "Is there a reason you want them now?"

"Alyss. She loves anything cherry so I wanna get her a bunch." Jace answered.

"If you have the skill, you can use them for so much too." Mabari said.

"If I can get them away from her long enough, I might try it." Jace said with a laugh.

Caitlyn filled a small container full of plump-looking cherries and sealed it tightly. She set it out for Jace and he took it as Jack handed him an apple.

"All of that will be thirty lien," Caitlyn told him, "They're _very_ popular."

Jace retrieved the lien from his wallet and smiled. "Well, that's just something else my lien is going to."

"And we look forward to taking it!" Jack declared, making his parents laugh loudly.

"Jack, that's not what you say to customers!" Mabari tried to take a serious tone, but just couldn't.

Jace laughed with them as he shifted his bags to his forearm. "Well, you're gonna be getting a lot more in the future."

Jace said his goodbyes and walked at a fast pace to meet up with the others. He had a wide smile on his face as he just thought about things from Alyss to the dance to school and to his friends. He made a lot of new friends and he had a girlfriend that he loved dearly. All because one person pulled his tail. He had to thank Michael for a lot, all because he was an ass.

But one thought nagged at him, and it started to make him feel horrible. If he was thanking Michael, he had to thank Alyss' father. Alyss and Lilith had moved away from the home they knew because that man threatened their lives and their very pride. He had never met him, but Jace hated that man for what Alyss said he had tried. He would never thank him for anything. It was a horrible feeling to Jace when he thought that. It was a horrible thing to think in general to be grateful to such a horrible situation. He hated that thought, and now he hated the thought of thanking Michael for what he had done. He still forgave him, but he just didn't want to thank him anymore.

After a few minutes of walking, Jace caught sight of a few of the others. Only Genesis and Alyss remained from the original group. His frown disappeared when he saw Alyss, waiting with her hands clasped together holding a few bags. Jace walked a bit faster to reach them and he arrived in a few moments.

"You mean you didn't buy a sack of apples?" Genesis asked in disbelief.

"I got one and I have half a bag back at the dorm," Jace said and held the small container out to Alyss, "I got these instead."

Alyss looked at the container and took hold of it. She looked through the transparent side and gave a wide smile. "Cherries!?"

"Yeah. I figured you'd appreciate them." Jace said, smiling at the excited gleam in her eyes.

"Oh we're gonna have a _really_ long scritching session later, Jace." Alyss _purred_.

"Alright then, that's your plans for the day." Genesis grinned.

"And it sounds awesome," Jace said, "Where's everyone else at?"

"They're inside the store looking at stuff," Genesis answered him, "Let's go look too."

* * *

"I can't believe you bought me a tub of cherries." Alyss said to Jace.

"I guessed it would make you happy and I bought it. And now I really like cherry stuff because of you." Jace smiled at her.

The two sat on Jace's bed later that night, just relaxing in their sleepwear. Jace had his arm around her shoulders and she just leaned her head into his shoulder. Raine was sitting at her desk, looking deep in thought about something and Auron was laying on his bed twirling one of his revolvers around his fingers.

"They're pretty awesome, right?" Alyss asked.

"Yeah, they are. I need to learn how to use them with stuff." Jace replied.

"You could make her another one o' those pies," Auron suggested, "Just fix it like normal an' mix some cherries up in it."

"Good idea. As long as Alyss let's me use the cherries." Jace said and flashed his girlfriend a grin.

"Yes. Just... _yes_." Alyss agreed to it quickly.

"I'll try it soon," Jace said and looked over to Raine, "What are you thinking about over there?"

"It's nothing." Raine said quickly.

"Is it about Vivi?" Alyss asked softly.

Raine fidgeted in her seat and gave a deep blush. She didn't give an answer and looked down as she crossed her arms, giving Alyss the answer.

"It is, isn't it?"

Raine gave a slow nod.

"Remember what you said that you heard Genesis say?" Alyss asked.

"Yeah, I remember that but…" Raine shook her head, "I'm the only one of us that I know of that's lesbian. You and Sapphire and Nora are all straight. Aulin is bi, but she goes more for boys. Bell doesn't feel that way about any gender. I don't know about Heath or Yang or Weiss or all the others. I feel like I'm just so weird…"

"Stop right there," Auron said and set his revolver down. He leveled his gaze at her, "Fuck that. You ain't weird at all. You just go for the same gender, that's all."

"Easy for you to say…"

"Raine, _don't_ ," Auron said more firmly, "You wanna know what I think personally? I think it's damn weird that two people of the same gender can love each other. But you know what? What I think don't mean shit. What matters is if you an' your partner is happy. As long as you got that, it don't matter if Oum or the gods o' light an' dark themselves say otherwise. Your own happiness is what matters, not what anyone thinks that have no business with what you do or who you love. And if my friend is happy, then that's a hell of a lot greater than what I think is or ain't weird."

The room went silent for a few moments as Auron's words sunk in. "Damn, Auron… Who knew you could say something like that…" Jace remarked, "But I agree. You're happiness is what matters, mo matter what anyone else thinks." He said to his partner.

"Raine, none of us mind that you're lesbian," Alyss spoke softly, "You're you. That's really all there is to it. If you love a girl then it's no one's place to judge you."

Raine gave a shuddering sigh as she looked up at them all. "You don't think it's bad that she's older, do you?"

"She's not that much older than you," Jace said, "You told us all she just graduated last year, so that doesn't matter."

"O-okay… But…"

"But what? You love her, then ask her." Jace said, repeating what Genesis had told him.

"We're Rangers…" Raine said quietly, "Every Gathering, the full-fledged members get switched to different kingdoms. What if I tell her and she tells me she loves me too? Then we get separated like that? That would be so hard for me…"

"Maybe you could make your case for her not to be moved," Auron suggested, "I mean, Jax has been in Mistral for years. He ain't never been moved an' I know he's mated with someone there."

"You know what mating is?" Alyss asked in shock.

"What? I seen the mark on his shoulder an' thought it was a tattoo, so I asked what made him wanna get it. That's how I know." Auron said, shrugging his shoulders as he returned to twirling his pistol.

"Maybe…" Raine sighed and started slowly nodding, "Yeah… Yeah, I'm gonna try to tell her. Because I might regret it if I don't."

"No matter what happens, it'll feel better to get it off your chest," Alyss told her, "You won't have it weighing on you anymore."

"At the dance, I'll tell her. Then we'll see what happens from there," Raine looked through her team and gave a smile, "Thanks for the talk. I don't like brooding."

"I just like to see my friends happy." Auron said.


	18. Chapter 18: Slow

**Chapter Eighteen**

 **Slow**

It was two days until the dance on Saturday. After classes were over on Thursday, JKDW were able to relax since there was actually no homework to do, the professors giving everyone a chance to relax a bit before the dance and the missions for the freshmen and returning second-year students. Everyone was grateful to say the least. Raine was hanging out with Aulin and Auron was talking with Pyrrha. Jace and Alyss… Well, they were in their dorm room doing what was normal to them now.

Jace pulled away from Alyss' hands as they rubbed his ears, looking at her with an apologetic smile. "What's wrong, Jace?" She asked as Jace stopped with her ears as well.

"Umm… I just remembered that I can't dance…"

"Oh. Okay. When the dance comes, just try to follow my lead." Alyss said with a smile and reached up to pet his ears again.

"You know how to dance?" Jace asked, pushing his head against her hands.

"A little. I watched romance shows before."

Jace smiled and closed his eyes in pleasure. He continued scritching her ears and they both fell into the bed. Jace couldn't help but have a huge, dopey-looking smile on his face and the sight just made Alyss smile more. Sadly for them, a knock on the door caused them both to stop. Jace sighed and rose from the bed and walked over to the door, then opened it.

"Hey guys!" The blonde of team RWBY greeted cheerfully, "Howya been?"

"Pretty good. I've just been thinking about how I'm not gonna embarrass me and Alyss at the dance because I can't dance," Jace answered her, "What about you?"

"Me and Weiss have been planning the dance and we've been runnin' ourselves pretty thin. I'm just goin' around and asking if some people can recommend some music for it. I mean, I got a lot to use, but Weiss said to have some ' _diversity_ ' or whatever. You got anything?"

"Hmm…" Jace thought about it for a moment, "I don't know if a lot of the music I listen to would fit, but we can look through my scroll for a bit."

"Sounds good," Yang grinned and Jace let her into the room, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Just a scritching session," Alyss said and moved over to the table with them, "But it's fine."

"Don't ever let Ruby see you guys doing that. She might blow your eardrums squealing."

"We'll keep it in mind," Jace said and brought his scroll out, "Let's see if anything fits."

* * *

"I'm still amazed at how good you are with your bow." Aulin told Raine as the apprentice finished target practice, letting loose all twelve of her arrows in near-blinding speed and accuracy only she and her family could achieve. At least as far as Raine knew.

"It's just a lot of practice. Anyone could shoot a bow if they had enough of it," Raine said and pulled her arrows back to her with her aura, "And almost no one can be as good as dad."

"I'm sure you have to have a lot of patience too. That's why I can't be a Ranger." Aulin grinned.

"If you were patient, you could be a good one," Raine said as she put her arrows back in her quiver, "And if you weren't loud."

"Thanks," Aulin laughed, "If I used a bow, I'd probably go with a dust bow like your little crush," Aulin's grin widened as she saw the blush on her friend's cheeks, "I'm not saying anything bad, but that would mean less practice."

"Depends on how you use it…" Raine sighed as she sat down next to Aulin.

"What's wrong, Raindrop?"

Raine groaned. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that."

Aulin laughed and nodded. "Maybe now's not a good time for new nicknames. So, what's buggin' you?"

"I talked to my team when we were in our room after we shopped for dresses," Raine took a deep breath and let it out in another sigh, "They all told me to just go for it. That I'd regret it if I didn't."

"I'm pretty sure Genesis told that to about everyone," Aulin said with a grin, "I mean, it helped Heath with asking Barrett to the dance. It helped Alyss with Jace. Maybe you should just tell her how you feel."

"It's really different for Rangers. I don't want to be separated from her…"

"So? I mean yeah, it would suck if you couldn't see each other for a year. But if you tell her and she feels the same, then wouldn't that just feel amazing?"

"But it would just hurt so much to be separated like that…"

"Alright, you're being unusually negative," Aulin told her, "You told me that a couple Rangers haven't changed places in years. How long has your dad stayed in Vale?"

"For maybe twenty years…" Raine said.

"And how long has he been mated with your mom?" Aulin asked, turning and facing Raine fully, propping her elbow on her knee and laying her cheek in er upraised palm.

Raine thought on that for a few moments. Her parents were mated before her sister was born and Halt had been in Vale for her whole life. Always close to home. Then there was Jax, who Auron said had been in Mistral for a few years after he had been mated to his partner.

"They've been mated for around twenty six years…" Raine answered finally.

"Raine, I think you're worrying over nothing." Aulin said.

"Damn it… Damn it!" Raine yelled at herself, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"'Cause you're in love and you think of everything that could go wrong first before you think of what can go right?" Aulin said, causing Raine to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "What?"

"I just never thought that you, the confident and brash Aulin Sylvana, would say something like that."

Aulin shrugged. "Hey, I got brains along with these looks, y'know."

"I don't doubt that now."

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

Raine laughed and shook her head. "Hey, at least I never denied that you look good."

"I'm hurt that you thought I just had my looks." Aulin pouted.

"I never said that I didn't think you did. I just doubted that you had brains in that pretty head of yours."

Aulin's pout disappeared and she broke out in a fit of giggles, pulling her friend into a hug. "Got you outta your little brooding moment didn't I?"

Raine nodded and smiled. "Yeah, you did."

"Man, there's people like Yang, Pyrrha, Alyss, Bell, Velvet, Coco, and Weiss," Aulin grinned, "You're surrounded by beautiful women but you only have eyes for one."

"There's you too," Raine said, "But… I only want one."

"And they're all still good to you since you told them you're lesbian?" Aulin asked, "Y'know, your team?"

"Funny thing is Auron thinks it's pretty weird," Raine saw Aulin frown and she continued, "But he said it doesn't matter what he thinks. As long as a person's happy then that's what matters. Plus he said wanting to see his friends happy overweighs what his opinions are."

Aulin's frown quickly turned into a smile. "That's good. I'm gonna offer him a dance for that."

"You'll have to actually convince him. He's going to it just to watch his friends have a good time."

"I have my ways."

Raine grinned. "Hopefully you don't make Alex too jealous."

"He can dance with me any day. He was really nervous when we first met him, y'know? He barely talked when he first got set up."

"I guess he must've warmed up fast. I've never noticed it." Raine remarked.

"Yeah, especially after he said he didn't want to be just a replacement," Aulin shook her head as she thought back to it, "We all told him that we didn't think of him as a replacement. He's our teammate now and he's one of us. Maybe going to the dance with him can get him a bit more out of that shell."

"I'm glad Alex, Jace, and Genesis got that figured out quick. I wonder what team he had to make him switch from Atlas."

"I'm not prying. He's had enough big talks for a while."

Raine nodded and rose from her seat. "Wanna go grab something to eat?"

Aulin jumped up and flashed a grin. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

"How did your parents feel about you transferring?" Pyrrha asked the tall gunslinger. The two were sitting at a bench near one of Beacon's small gardens, with Auron twirling one of his revolvers around his fingers as he always seemed to do now.

"Dad an' Preacher was up for it. Mom was worried, but she agreed," Auron answered, "She was a bit more relaxed about it when I reminded her that you would be around to keep me in line."

Pyrrha chuckled at that. "Katherine has always been rather protective of you, hasn't she?"

"Like a mother hen. She's like that with everyone. Me, dad, Preach, an' the other Rangers when they visit," Auron sighed, "It's weird not seein' 'em an' bein' so far away."

"It is," Pyrrha agreed, "But being with new friends more than makes up for it, I believe."

"Definitely. Jace sure as hell needed it."

"After what he told us all, he truly does."

Auron nodded. "Same can be said for you for a different reason. Breath o' fresh air, right?"

"Yes, it very much is." Pyrrha answered with a smile.

"You got a date to the dance?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't. No one has asked."

"You'd think someone would. You're honestly one o' the prettiest girls in the school."

"Thank you for the compliment…" Pyrrha sighed, "It's… It's the pedestal that everyone keeps placing me on… They believe I am out of their league and I would only just turn them down. It's difficult to deal with."

Auron sighed. "Sorry you have to deal with that crap, Pyr. Maybe you should just find someone an' ask yourself."

"I don't know… I wouldn't want to draw attention to them for being the ' _Invincible Girl's date…_ '"

Auron shook his head. "I wouldn't think like that. Sometimes you gotta do what makes _you_ happy. You know what I've been hearin' a lot?"

"Hmm?"

Auron tossed his revolver up in the air and caught it by the grip, then he holstered it. "You might regret it if you don't. It's somethin' good to go by."

Pyrrha thought about that for a moment and glanced at her friend. "Did you find a date and that helped you?"

Auron shook his head. "Nah, I just hear it a lot these days. Genesis told Jace an' Heath, then it just spread. I just wanna see my friends have fun an' I wouldn't be too happy if my best friend ain't happy just because o' some pedestal bullshit."

Pyrrha couldn't keep a small smile off her face. "I'll think about what you said…"

"You got two more days to ask someone. Oughtta be long enough."

"Perhaps."

"Forgive me for pryin', but who would you plan on askin'?" Auron asked.

"I… would like to ask Jaune…" Pyrrha said quietly.

"Jaune, huh?"

"Yes… I possibly could have told Nora, but I don't believe her hyperactive personality would be any help…"

"She's your teammate, Pyr," Auron said lightly, "You gotta be able to talk with her about this stuff too. She might surprise you."

Pyrrha _hummed_ shortly at that. "Maybe... I suppose that makes me seem horrible if I can't trust myown teammate."

"Not at all," Auron assured her, "You're just nervous is all. If you wanna go for it, then go for it. That's all I can say. But why Jaune, exactly?"

Pyrrha looked down as a red tint covered her cheeks, giving Auron a bit of an answer. "He isn't one of _those_ people. The ones that put me on a pedestal, the ones that believe I am too good for them… He is the furthest thing from one of them. Everyone else knew my name when I came here, but he didn't. He didn't know me until he recognized me from his favorite cereal box, even then he didn't know my skill in combat."

"Damn, that _is_ a fresh start," Auron remarked, "I remember Yang sayin' somethin' about that."

"I feel like he is the only other person that I can just…" Pyrrha bit her lip, "I can just let my guard down and be myself around him, barring training him of course. There are Ren and Nora as well, you and team RWBY. But Jaune is... different. After what we have been through and how many time's we've fought and helped each other improve, I consider you as a brother more than anything."

Auron smiled at that. "That's good 'cause I think of you as another sister."

"I appreciate it, Auron," Pyrrha smiled, then she sighed again, "Jaune is perhaps the best person I have met at Beacon."

"You just gotta ask. Be sure to take it slow too. Just remember what I said."

"That I may regret it if I don't…"

Auron nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder. He squeezed firmly and gave a smile. "If he don't go, then there's somethin' not turnin' in that blonde head o' his."

"He has been trying to ask Weiss, but she turns him down at every turn."

"I can't imagine playin' a guitar actually works," Auron laughed, "The others heard it the other night an' wondered what was happenin'," He shook his head, then his expression grew more serious, "Oh damn. You ain't never tried any of the jerky that mom fixes, have you?"

"I don't recall." Pyrrha answered

"I need to make some, then," Auron said, "I've even meanin' to do that since last month."

"I look forward to it."

* * *

 _'…Never in my life met someone like you. When I see you girl, all I say is ooh~"_

"Damn Jace, I didn't expect you to have a little love song." Yang said with a grin.

"It's catchy and it just makes me smile," Jace grinned back and looked at Alyss, "A bit more now too."

"I really like that song." Alyss said and rubbed her head against Jace's shoulder.

"So, you only have like… one song?" Yang asked.

"At least it's something," Jace said, "I don't think we have the time to go through every song I have."

"Yeah, at least Weiss can't say I didn't try," Yang said, "Welp, I'd better go ask around a bit more. Let you both have some time alone." She winked at them and stood up.

"Have fun with your list, Yang." Alyss said.

"I've been hearin' all kinds of music these past few days. Some people have... _interesting_ tastes, not that I'm judgin'. Seeya later."

"Bye." Jace and Alyss said as Yang left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"That song…" Alyss said and smiled at Jace, "Can we listen to it again?"

Jace nodded and smiled back. "Yeah, we can. It _does_ make me smile and it makes me more happy now too."

"You didn't go through all the music on your scroll, did you?"

"No. _Gods_ no. I've got over a thousand lien worth of music. You might like a few more."

" _That_ much music?" Alyss asked in disbelief, "How can you listen to that much?"

Jace gave a grin and put his music on shuffle, starting with that song. "Because I could go days without listening to one song and then be surprised when it pops up on shuffle. I like that feeling."

"Kinda weird to do. So, shall we continue where we left off?" Alyss asked, twitching her ears in delight at the thought, "Or we can just cuddle and let our arms and fingers rest."

Jace nodded eagerly and they went to Jace's bed. "I don't think we do enough cuddling. Just laying there and doing nothing..."

"Yeah, that would be nice."

They settled in on the bed with Jace's legs apart and Alyss leaning back against his chest. She leaned her head back and Jace nuzzled in between her ears. His tail came around and laid around Alyss' waist and she lightly rubbed it with a finger as Jace wrapped his arms around her stomach.

After a few minutes, the sound of glass shattering from Jace' s scroll made the couple jump. It was a huge change in genres from the soft sounds of the song before and heavy metal instrumentals and lyrics of the new song.

Jace laughed. "And it decided to play one of the heavier songs on my scroll. Umm… sorry."

Alyss broke into a fit of giggles as Jace grabbed his scroll and searched for more fitting music for the moment. "It's alright. I think it's hilarious that just one style of music just changes to a completely different one."

"Yeah, it's pretty funny. Gods, imagine _that_ playing at the dance." Jace laughed at the thought.

"Glynda and Weiss would probably kill Yang if she snuck that in there." Alyss said.

"Makes me wonder what all Glynda has to put up with."

"Yeah, but she's got a lot of self control."

Jace closed his eyes pressed his lips between Alyss' cat ears. "I can't wait to see your dress."

Alyss let out a happy _humming_ sound as she leaned her head back a bit more. "Aulin said it'll make you drool all over the place."

"Then I'm sure it's good. I need to make a playlist for certain songs."

"That might be best to keep us both from jumping so much." Alyss giggled again.

Jace nodded and gave a happy sigh, his breath making Alyss' ears twitch. "Hey… can I ask you something?"

"You just did." Alyss said.

"What…? Oh," Jace shook his head and laughed, "Okay, mind if I ask a couple questions?"

"What is it?"

"When you first saw me, what did you think?"

"That's a random question… Hmm…" Alyss thought on it, "I thought you were really nice. You held the door open for me and Raine. Then I saw your ears and I thought I could talk to you and be friends."

"Hmm… I figured I'd be nice like that since I was new."

"What did you think about me?"

"I thought you were really pretty. Your eyes were the prettiest thing to me," Jace said, "When Jaune told me you might be my teammate, I was excited. Then when you and Raine walked in on me airing out my arm… I kinda thought you'd be grossed out by me and I hated that thought. It would've been a horrible first meeting. I'm glad you didn't turn out like that. I still can't thank you enough for healing it."

"You really don't have to thank me for that," Alyss told him, "I did what I thought was right. And now we're together."

"Yeah. We are and this is the happiest I've ever been."

The two heard the lock disengage on the door and they looked to see Auron enter, carrying a large metal bowl in his hand. "Ah, still in bed?" He asked as Raine entered right after him.

"Yep." They both answered.

"What's that?" Jace asked, "It smells amazing."

"Makin' jerky!" Auron exclaimed and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened the door and put the bowl in it, then closed it, "I found out that Pyrrha never tried it so I'm makin' some."

Alyss gave a laugh. "You realize once more people try it, then more will like it, right?"

"Yeah, I know that. Good thing this school keeps stocked with the stuff I need for it."

"Until you run it dry." Raine remarked.

Auron shrugges. "Then I can go buy the stuff myself."

"I kinda feel bad eating it since Sapphire is a deer Faunus…" Alyss said.

"I'm pretty sure she'd understand that it's just food, right?" Jace told her.

"Yeah, I guess… I never see Velvet complain when someone eats rabbit."

"I'm sure it's still a bit weird for 'em." Auron remarked.

"Probably. I don't imagine they'd wanna try something made from the animals they take after." Jace said.

"I heard from a cow Faunus that it don't matter to 'em," Auron said, "She said that it's just traits. They got no connection to the animal other than their physical an' a bit o' mental traits."

"And my mom's a deer Faunus. She doesn't mind it when she fixes deer meat." Raine added.

"Really?" Alyss asked, "That's a weird thought though."

"I guess you'd need to work past how strange it might seem," Jace said and looked to Auron, "Do you wanna try to get Sapphire to try a piece of jerky or something?"

"I want all my friends to try it an' I don't want her to feel left out." Auron answered.

"You'll just have to ask her." Alyss told him.

Auron grunted and shook his head. "Yeah, that'll be a weird couple o' seconds. _'Hey deer Faunus girl, wanna try some deer jerky?'_ Damn, that'll be awkward."

"I wanna see the look on her face when you ask." Alyss said.

 **XxXxX**

 **Late AN: In my haste to get this chapter out before my internet crapped out completely earlier, I forgot to mention that the song Jace played on his scroll is called I Say Ooh, one of the songs I think is inspired by Red vs Blue. I can't remember who performed it for the life of me right now.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	19. Chapter 19: Beautiful

**Chapter Nineteen**

 **Beautiful**

"Are you done straightenin' your suit yet?" Auron asked Jace.

It was the night of the dance and everyone was getting ready. All the men and women of JKDW, SLVR, and SHRA had an agreement to where they would change into their suits and dresses in different places. Paige and Terra were doing it for their team and Genesis and Nika were doing it for theirs. Tyr, Ashe, Michael, and Liza all decided to go with their school uniforms. The men used JKDW and SLVR's rooms while the women used the foreign student's dorms. They did that so it would be a surprise for each of them.

"I'm getting there," Jace grumbled, "You're not wearing a suit, so shut it." Auron only wore a nice pair of black jeans and a black long-sleeved button-up shirt, wearing the dress shoes of his school uniform.

"That's 'cause I don't have to worry about how I look. All the rest of you got dates."

"We could've used our school uniforms, but we wanted something different." Genesis told him.

"You pressured us all into it." Alex said.

"Whatever. You didn't have to if you didn't want to, so I guess you wanted to." Genesis grinned.

"Well, I'm gonna head on over an' wait," Auron said and stood from his seat, "See all you guys there." He left the room to the three brothers.

After a few moments, Jace finished smoothing out his pants and vest and he took a deep breath. "I think I'm ready."

"Alright then, let's go." Genesis said and the three walked from the room, meeting Barrett, Zack, Paige, and Inuvali just outside. Inuvali wore a black suit with a silver dress shirt. The hemming of the jacket was silver as well. Paige wore a white suit with a black dress shirt, matching his snow-white eyes and making his black hair stand out more. Instead of the usual braids that went down the sides of his head, two braids wrapped around his head and met in the back, forming a larger braid.

"Alright, let's go wait for our dates!" Paige cheered and the group walked on.

* * *

Alyss pulled her armstockings on and tightened the laces. She put her necklace on and looked in the mirror, giving a small smile. The black and purple-striped armstockings _did_ go well with her dress, if she was being honest with herself.

"I think I'm ready to go."

"Speak for yourself." Raine grumbled and looked over her own dress, trying to get any wrinkles out that she found.

"Stop worrying over a few little wrinkles," Aulin told her, sitting on the bed already dressed and ready, "You look really good in that dress. And so do you, Bell. Damn." She looked to where the bathroom door opened and the Mistralian girl stepped out, wearing her red and gold dress.

"Thank, you Aulin," Bell smiled, "You three look beautiful as well."

Alyss finished applying a light eye shadow and she turned from the mirror to the others. "Anyone else need the mirror?"

They all shook their heads and the girls headed out the room, with Raine looking more and more nervous by the second. Alyss placed her hand on her shoulder and smiled. "It'll be fine, Raine."

"I wonder what Vivi looks like…" The apprentice said, "I wonder if she'll like my dress."

Aulin put her arm around her shoulders. "C'mon, Raindrop. She's gonna love it."

"Quit calling me that." Raine said.

"Depends on what you let me see later."

"Oh my Oum," Raine groaned and playfully pushed Aulin away, "You're not seeing anything, Aulin."

"Of course not. That is for Vivi, is it not?" Bell said, offering a smirk.

"Bell!" Raine admonished her, blushing heavily, "I thought you were the nice one!"

"I am only saying." Bell said innocently.

"What? You're not alone in that, Raine," Aulin grinned and looked at Alyss, "I'm sure Jace is gonna see some things tonight."

"Umm…" Alyss blushed and looked down as they walked, not giving a reply to the statement.

"Hey, you getting our Kitty Cat all flustered without us?" Heath said as the group met with the others outside the other room they used.

"We're just curious on how much Jace is gonna see tonight." Aulin grinned.

"Shut it, Aulin." Alyss said loudly.

"Well he has something good to see until then." Heath said.

"Is this supposed to be ' _tease Alyss night_ ' or something?" Alyss asked them all.

"No. It's just that no ones denying that you look great." Terra said. She wore a long, low-cut white dress with two wide straps wrapping around her neck and connecting to the top of the dress. She had her long brown hair in a long braid like how her hair usually is, with the two smaller braids below the middle.

"Exactly. But I think everyone looks awesome too." Sapphire said with a smile toward her former teammate. She wore a black kimono with blue hemming and a blue design of a butterfly on the back. Her light-brown hair was drawn up and wrapped in a bun, leaving two thin sections hanging down on either side of her face.

"Yeah, everyone does," Alyss agreed, "I'm sure the others look nice too even if they're wearing their school uniforms."

"Liza does. Her hair looks pretty amazing when it's straightened out and let loose." Nika said. She kept her bright red hair in its messy look. She wore a crimson dress that reached her knees, hugging her torso but loose on her legs. She wore black high heels and around her neck was a locket on a thin chain.

"And Terra's looks good in a braid," Aulin said, "Did you get help with that?" She asked the brawler.

"Liza helped me with it before she left with Michael. I can say I'm probably not gonna do it again anytime soon." Terra said with a grin as she brought her hair around in front of her.

"Special occasions, right?" Alyss asked.

"Oh yeah. It took a long time to do this."

"So, are we ready to go now?" Sapphire asked the group.

"As ready as I can be." Raine said and took a deep breath.

"Alright, let's not keep the boys and lady waiting." Aulin said and they all left the building.

* * *

"I prefer simplicity." Tyr explained the reason for only wearing his school uniform. He, Ashe, Auron Jace, Genesis, and Alex were waiting for the other girls a small ways away from the ballroom and the others were standing closer to the entrance. Michael and Liza already went inside.

"I can understand that," Jace said, "Genesis suggested it and I just went with it."

"You wish to look nice for Alyss." Tyr stated.

"He spent thirty minutes trying to find that." Genesis told him.

"It's not everyday you see your friends wearing suits and dresses," Ashe said at Tyr's side, "You guys look great."

"Thanks." Jace, Genesis, and Alex said.

"Yeah, you guys really went all out." Auron remarked.

"Hey Jace. It's been a bit since we've talked outside of classes."

Jace looked to his left and saw Jaune walking up to them, arm in arm with Pyrrha. "Yeah, it has. I've kinda been relaxing half the time with Alyss, so I haven't been out of the room much."

"So, you asked 'im?" Auron asked his friend with a grin.

"I did." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"I'm still surprised she asked me of all people." Jaune said and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Don't question it," Auron laughed, "You got a gorgeous girl on your arm tonight."

"I can't deny that." Jaune chuckled.

"Gods… Speaking of gorgeous…" Jace said breathlessly and stared past the two.

"You can say that again." Alex agreed.

"I believe we will let you ogle them." Tyr said and he and Ashe walked on.

"Have fun with that!" Ashe called back to them.

"Same with us. See you in there, guys." Jaune said, then he and Pyrrha followed.

"Yeah… see you guys sometime…" Genesis told them distractedly.

"I can see why you dressed up all fancy." Auron told the remaining teens.

Their dates walked up to them and Jace was speechless as he stared at his girlfriend. She was stunning. The dress hugged her body in every way and the eye shadow she wore made those beautiful eyes stand out more than ever. The armstockings were an added touch to it that Jace loved as well.

"Close your mouth." Genesis smacked him in the back of the head, getting Jace to snap his mouth shut.

"Guh… umm… Damn… that's a pretty kitty." That was all Jace could say at the moment.

"I was half right, Aly. He's not drooling but gods." Aulin remarked and stood next to Alex.

"Hey. You look great." Alex told her.

"Don't I always?"

Alex grinned. "You do. You just look even greater than usual."

"And you look good too, Nika." Genesis told his teammate.

"You too. The red matches your hair." Nika replied.

"And yours."

"Where are the others at?" Bell asked them.

"Gods, you all look amazing. Wow," Genesis shook his head, "Umm, they're closer to the doors."

"I guess we should go meet up with them." Terra said and the group went toward the ballroom.

As they walked, Jace could hardly keep his eyes off of Alyss. Alyss caught him looking and gave a shy smile. "I guess you do like it, huh?"

"Y-yeah… You look absolutely beautiful." Jace answered truthfully.

"Thank you. I like your suit too. We match."

"Yeah. I figured I'd go with matching your combat outfit but I didn't think you'd have a dress to match more."

"I'm glad you like it."

"The armstockings are great too."

"You two lovebirds need some time alone?" Heath called back to them.

"Shut it, Heath," Alyss called back and she turned to Raine, "Do you know when Vivi's supposed to be here?"

"She said she was already here," Raine answered, "I just have to find her."

"I'm sure a cat Faunus with ears and a tail is hard to miss." Alyss said and Jace brought his tail up and bopped her on the nose.

"Unless she has it wrapped around her waist." Raine said.

"You don't think she could be behind you, do you?"

The three jumped and turned around quickly at the deep voice, leaving the woman laughing. Her long blue and black hair was straightened out and she had a wide smile on her face. She wore a blue dress with black along the edges an inch in length A strap went over her right shoulder and left her left bare. It only had one sleeve connected to the strap and it was loose over her arm. The dress extended down to her legs and was cut up both sides, showing a pair of black mini-shorts under it.

Alyss looked over and grinned at the look on Raine's face. She leaned over and whispered. "Hey, your mouth's hanging open."

Raine snapped it shut and stared at her date. "I-I-I umm… Hi Vivi."

"Hi Raine. I guess you like the dress," Vivi grinned, "I like yours too."

"Th-thanks, Vivi. Umm… these are my teammates." Raine said and motioned her head to the two.

"Ah, nice to meet you both," Vivi bowed her head to them, "This one is Vivian Strife. Ranger of Vale and Raine's date," She smiled, "Good to meet two fellow cat Faunus, and one like me. You can call me Vivi." She said and uncoiled her tail from around her waist.

"Good to know I'm not the only weird one," Jace laughed, "Nice to meet you too. I'm Jace Reznor."

"And I'm Alyssia Wystar," Alyss introduced herself, "Call me Alyss."

"Raine told me how you two have been together. She told me cute things." Vivi said to the two.

"Well, Alyss is a cute person." Jace said with a smile. She let out a little _mewl_ and rubbed her head against Jace's shoulder.

"See what I mean?" Raine offered a shy smile to Vivi, "You uh… you like my dress?"

"I really do. You look really great." Vivi answered her.

"You do too…" Raine said and looked down.

"So," Vivi said and stepped next to Raine and locked her arm in hers, "Shall we go in?"

"Y-yeah. Let's go," Raine said and the four followed the others to the ballroom.

"Oh, and Vivi?"

"What's on your mind?" Vivi asked and glanced at the apprentice.

"Quit using your semblance to sneak up on me."

Vivi laughed. "This one makes no promises."

They entered the ballroom and music was already playing in the background. There was no dancing yet as Ozpin wanted to address all of the students before anything started. They quickly found their friends and they stood to the side for a few minutes, chatting with each other with Raine introducing Vivi to the others.

"Good to see you again, Auron. This one guesses you found everything well?" Vivi said to the gunslinger.

"Yeah, I did. It was pretty easy to get around an' to get to our room. I stopped an' talked to Pyrrha on the way, then I got to our room. I knew these two would get along," Auron said in regards to the cat Faunus on his team, "When I walked in, they was huggin' each other. I just didn't think they'd be together a month later."

"It probably would've been sooner if we weren't dumb about it." Alyss said with a smile.

"But you two still hung out a lot. You just needed a little push." Raine said.

"Yeah, and I think the dance gave us that." Jace said.

"Plus what I said, remember?" Genesis said behind him.

"Yes, I remember." Jace told him.

"May I have everyone's attention, please…" Everyone heard Ozpin call and they gathered around the middle of the room to listen. Ozpin stood next to Glynda and General Ironwood, who made Jace's ears perk up at the sight.

 _"I need to talk to him soon."_ He thought to himself.

The ballroom quieted down and everyone gave their attention to the headmaster. "As you all know, next week the missions for the first-years will take place. Tomorrow will be the day you will choose which mission your team will take. But, that is tomorrow. Tonight, I wish for you all to enjoy yourselves. Like beautiful stories, the greatest chapters in your life will fly by. So please, cherish this moment. Cherish your time whether it is with your friends or those who you share your life with. I have heard that you may regret it if you don't. You all may be training to be Huntsmen, but whether you are freshmen or seniors, you are all still students. So please, act the part. Have a good night." With that, the music kicked back up and all the students moved around the room, some dancing and some just hanging around.

"Looks like my words of wisdom have spread." Genesis remarked.

"Are you surprised?" Nika asked, "You told Jace and that kinda spread like wildfire."

"Yeah I know."

Jace grinned. "It's the wisest thing that's ever come out of your mouth."

"You just haven't been listening." Genesis told him.

Jace shook his head. "I'm gonna go talk with Ironwood if I can find him. You coming, Alyss?"

Alyss nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to meet him."

"Stay awhile and listen!" Genesis called after them with a laugh, doing his best impression of a wise old man.

Jace laughed at that and led Alyss through the crowd of people on the side of the main floor. Along the way they passed Yang, who stopped and whistled at Alyss. "Damn, you look good, girl!"

"Thanks." Alyss smiled.

"Don't go flirting with people's dates, you brute." Weiss shook her head at the blonde.

"I mean, she's right." Jace said with a shrug.

"Perhaps, but she is still your date and yours alone." Weiss told him, offering a small grin.

"She's my Pretty Kitty." Jace said with a wide grin.

"Is that a new nickname for me?" Alyss asked.

"It fits." Yang said.

"I'm gonna go talk to Ironwood," Jace said, "You guys have fun."

"Already on it." Yang replied.

Jace and Alyss made their way through the students once more. Alyss smiled, not even protesting to being dragged through the crowd. As long as it was Jace, she didn't care.

"General!" Jace called when he caught sight of the man.

Ironwood turned at the call and he smiled a bit when he saw Jace, motioning for his two soldiers to stand down. "Hello Jace. I hope everything is going well."

Jace stopped in front of him and nodded. "It really is. I've met a lot of new friends. And Michael and Liza ended up apologizing to me too."

"They have? That's good news. I heard from Ozpin they have picked up their schoolwork here as well."

"I'm glad they are. I forgave them."

Ironwood offered a grin. "I don't suppose you would want to return to Atlas, would you?"

Jace shook his head. "No, I'm really happy here."

"I see that," The General said, looking at Jace and Alyss' clasped hands, "And who is this?"

"Oh! This is Alyss. She's my teammate and my girlfriend."

"It's an honor to meet you, sir." Alyss bowed to him.

Ironwood nodded and smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

"She healed my arm with her semblance when we first met," Jace said, drawing Ironwood's gaze to his right arm. Jace rolled his sleeve up and smiled, "Then I told my whole team and my other friends about everything. They all accept me."

"That is very good to know. And that is an impressive semblance, Alyss." Ironwood said to her.

"Thank you." Alyss said.

"And Ozpin informed me that you and Alex are brothers by blood," Ironwood returned his attention to Jace, "And how you welcomed him and you're letting him use your last name. You told him everything?"

"Yes sir. He deserved to know the truth." Jace answered.

"It's good to know that you both accepted each other. Do Haile and Genesis know?"

"Yes, they do. We called dad over before we talked to Alex."

Ironwood nodded. "There is a reason I go to Haile for certain missions. He has a good heart and great skill. I think I've taken up enough of your time. Go enjoy yourselves. As Ozpin said, the greatest chapters of your life can fly right by."

"Thank you. Have a good night, sir." Jace told him and Ironwood walked to go stand with Glynda.

"So, what should we do?" Jace asked his companion.

"Hmm… We could go dance if you want." Alyss suggested.

"We can try. Sorry in advance."

Alyss shook her head. "Whatever happens, it'll be fun."

Jace smiled at her. "If I'm with you, I'll always have fun."


	20. Chapter 20: The Time of Our Lives

**Chapter Twenty**

 **The Time of Our Lives**

"Am I doing good?" Jace asked as he and Alyss moved on the dance floor. Jace lightly held his hand on her waist while she held his shoulder. Their free hands were clasped together out from them and they just moved back and forth, turned slowly, and stared at each other as the music lightly played in the background.

"Yeah. You're alright," Alyss told him, "Nothing too complicated. This is nice."

"It really is."

They danced slowly with the music as they took short glances at those around them. Genesis was dancing with Nika, both of them stumbling a bit with their differences in height. Heath and Barrett had similar problems, but Heath was giggling the whole time. Alex and Aulin looked as if they were made for each other,being nearly the same height. The two were surprisingly good at dancing. Sapphire and Zack looked like they were dancing flawlessly, bodies pressed against each other and moving in complete synchronization with each other and the music, the result of obvious practice. Inuvali and Bell were slow with their movements, not trying to do too much. No one else was on the dance floor at the moment as Auron talked with Pyrrha and Jaune. Tyr sat with Ashe, Paige, and Terra near the wall. Michael and Liza sat and drank some of the punch, just talking to each other. Raine and Vivi were nowhere to be seen.

"I wonder where those two are." Jace said as the he and his girlfriend made another slow turn.

"I don't know. Maybe they went to talk. Maybe about their feelings." Alyss guessed.

"If only Raine had the time to make something that Vivi likes." Jace remarked.

Alyss laughed. "That would probably help her."

"I…" Jace hesitated, "I want to talk to you about something too. Alone."

"You do?" Alyss asked, "About what?"

"It's just… It's about something I thought and I wanna get it off my chest so I can hopefully feel better."

"Okay. Let's go, we can dance later." Alyss flashed him a smile and they slowly moved off the dance floor.

* * *

"What did you need to talk about, Raine?" Vivi asked her friend as the two stepped outside, away from the sounds of the dance.

"Umm…" Raine hesitated and looked down as the two sat on a bench. She bit her lip as she tried to put her feelings into words, "Y-you look really pretty tonight…"

Vivi gave a small smile. "You've told me that a couple times. This one thinks you do too."

Raine nodded and clenched her hands in her lap. Vivi put a hand on her leg and caused her to tense up a bit. "What's wrong, Raine?"

"Do you remember what you said to me at the last Gathering?" Raine asked quietly.

"Yes, I do. Seize the day or die regretting the time you lost," Vivi tilted her head, her ears going different directions in a look of curiosity. The sight made Raine's heart race. She was so cute when her ears did that, "What's bothering you, Raine?"

Raine snapped her mind from Vivi's ears and sighed. "Seize the day…" She echoed silently, "And you remember how I told you I was lesbian?"

"Yes, and I appreciate that you trusted me to know that," Vivi told her, "Did you find someone?" She asked, her lips forming a thin line.

"Y-yeah… kinda" Raine answered, "Aulin said it best. I'm surrounded by beautiful women. There's her and Alyss and Bell and Yang and the others… But I only want one…"

"Really? Who is it?"

Raine took a deep breath and looked over to her friend. "You."

Vivi tilted her head again in surprise. "Me…? I won't deny that there are beautiful girls here. But _me_?" She gave a hint of a smile, "Even though you usually only see this one a few times?"

"Y-yes… I want _you_ ," Raine said more firmly. She made it this far, she couldn't back away now, "I don't care how pretty all these other girls are. You're the prettiest to me and damn it I want you more than anyone else here!"

Vivi was left speechless at the amount of passion she heard in her friend's voice. "Raine… What made you want to say this?"

"Because you said it. Seize the day or die regretting the time you lost. And what Ozpin said earlier. He heard what's been spreading around. What Genesis said to Jace. You might regret it if you don't…" Raine slowly moved her hand and laid it over Vivi's, "I know that we're Rangers. We can take missions more dangerous than a normal Huntsman. I know we can die quickly from any reason. I know that and I accept that for what I'm going into. And… I love you. I've loved you since last year at the Gathering. I just… I wanted to tell you before the next Gathering… before you were switched to another kingdom. I wanted to just-"

"Raine…" Vivi interrupted softly. Raine had started inching closer to her and she froze, "You wanted to tell me in case something happened during a mission… If I died." Vivi said bluntly.

Raine nodded slowly. "You never know when it's time to say goodbye. If I told you… I could maybe stand being so far away from you. But if you died… I'd regret never saying it-"

"Oum damn it, I love you too, Raine." Vivi blurted out suddenly, making Raine jolt back a bit in surprise.

"Wh-what…?" Raine asked and straightened up in her seat. She noticed the wide smile on the cat Faunus' face and her tail had come unfurled from around her waist, "You do?"

"I do," Vivi affirmed, "It's been hard keeping those feelings to myself. Every time this one was around you lately, she felt so happy."

"You…" Raine shuddered a bit when Vivi reached a hand up to cup her cheek, "Really?" She just couldn't believe it.

"This one loves you, Raine. It's true… It's real."

Raine brought her hand up from Vivi's and held the hand on her cheek. Her eyes were filled with tears as they looked at each other. She reached her other hand out and locked her fingers with Vivi's free hand. She leaned in hesitantly, wondering if this was actually real, actually happening. Vivi noticed the small movement and leaned in as well and soon, their lips met. A surprised whimper came from Raine's mouth as she pressed forward a bit more, closing her eyes as she scooted closer on the bench.

After a few moments, they pulled apart and Raine opened her eyes, fully expecting to wake up in her bed. But she saw Vivi, golden eyes looking at her with love, her tail swishing behind her happily. "I-It's not a dream…" Raine said breathlessly, "W-we just kissed…"

"Yes… we did." Vivi answered with a wider smile.

"C-can we... Can we do it again?" Raine asked, "J-just to be sure it's real? Please?"

Vivi laughed and placed her hands on the smaller girl's cheeks. She pulled Raine in and placed a softer kiss to her lips, causing the apprentice to shudder. They pulled back and Raine just stared at the cat Faunus in front of her.

"Oum this is actually real..." Raine murmured, "This is happening..."

"Do you want more proof?" Vivi asked with a little smirk.

"Umm... Please?"

* * *

"I never figured Jace could dance." Auron remarked to Pyrrha and Jaune.

"It's surprising, honestly," Jaune said, "But it looks like Alyss is the one doing the work."

"Yes, she is," Pyrrha stated, "I can see in the way they move. Alyss is pulling him in the right movements."

"You know a lot about dancing, don't you?" Jaune asked her.

"Yes. I was invited to multiple dances and balls like this after my third victory." Pyrrha answered.

"Shows how much people care for second best, really," Auron shrugged, "I never minded that too much, but it kinda got annoyin' how I was ignored."

"It was overbearing and very annoying, to be truthful," Pyrrha sighed, "People only praised my skill. They always talked nonstop of that and never about _me_."

"At least you got some friends here that like you for you." Auron told her.

"That's a relief, to say the least," Pyrrha said with a returning smile, but couldn't keep that bit of annoyance out of her voice, "It's just... very hard to get away from all of that and be myself."

Jaune looked to her and sighed. "Y'know what, I'll be back in a bit."

"Where are you going?" Pyrrha asked him.

"That's a secret. Don't worry, I'm not sticking you up." Jaune assured her with a grin and left the two there.

"Huh. Wonder what he's off doin'." Auron said and watched the blonde teen go.

"I have no idea…" Pyrrha sighed and shook her head, "I heard people saying that he doesn't deserve to be my date. They say I deserve better than him."

Auron growled a bit at the words. "Fuck that. It ain't none o' their damn business. No one _deserves_ anyone. It's just a matter of who _you_ wanna be with. 'Least that's the way I see it."

"I hate hearing it, though… Everyone thinks I deserve better but they put me on that damned pedestal and say they aren't worthy. Those people just make me want to scream… I don't believe Jaune even noticed what they said about him…"

"I'm sure he did. I'm sure he don't care," Auron looked over to his friends on the dance floor and let out a smile at seeing their own smiles, "I know it's hard, but you can't keep lettin' those people get to ya. They're just stupid idiots."

"I _do_ need to try to ignore them…"

"You're here with the one _you_ wanna be with. That's somethin' to make you smile, right?"

Pyrrha nodded and let out a smile again. "That is very true."

"Auron, have you seen Raine?"

"Shit!" Auron exclaimed and turned around, facing two of his teammates, "Fuck, do cat Faunus always sneak up on people?"

"We didn't really sneak," Alyss laughed, "Did we scare you?"

"Kinda, yeah. I didn't even know you got done dancin'," Auron shook his head, "No, I ain't seen Raine since we got here."

"I'm sure she's okay." Pyrrha told them.

"Me too, but it's weird not seeing her anywhere," Jace said, "We're gonna go somewhere quiet to talk. We'll be back in a bit."

"Alright. I ain't goin' nowhere." Auron told them.

Jace and Alyss left to go upstairs somewhere and Auron turned back to Pyrrha. "That still eatin' at ya?"

"A bit, yes," Pyrrha admitted, "But like you said. I'm here with the person I want to be with. I should be happy for that."

Auron felt a tap on his shoulder and turned, looking down to see Aulin with a grin on her face. "Hey big guy, let's go dance."

Auron shook his head. "I ain't a dancer. I just wanna-"

"Shut it. This is a thank you for accepting my friend for who she is," Aulin took his arm and pulled him toward the dance floor, "She told me that you didn't care as long as she was happy, and you're great for it."

"I mean… I just-"

"That's enough outta you. Just follow my lead." Aulin told him, leaving a laughing Alex and Pyrrha behind.

"She was right when he said she has her ways." Alex remarked with another laugh.

* * *

Jace and Alyss stepped to the railing of the balcony and they leaned over it, marveling at the stars in the sky and the strangely-beautiful shattered moon. Jace was certain that if they weren't in Vale and they were out in the wilderness, they could see the stars shining brighter than ever, just like back home.

"What did you want to talk about, Jace?" Alyss asked.

Jace looked down and sighed heavily. "You know I forgave Michael for pulling my tail. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. I thanked him for that. I thanked him for causing me to switch schools and I thanked him for me meeting you."

"And I'm glad I met you." Alyss told him.

"Th-that's not the point… He's the reason I came here and I thanked him. I thought of something the other day that made me... want to just hate myself…"

"What is it?"

"I-if I'm thanking Michael… then…" Jace hesitated and gripped the railing hard, "I-I should thank _him_ …"

Alyss looked at him in confusion, seeing tears in his eyes as he talked. It seemed hard for him to say. She didn't know what he was talking about for a few moments until her eyes widened a bit.

"Jace…"

"If I'm thanking Michael for causing me to come here, then going by that I should thank that man for causing you and your mom to come here…" Jace took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes, "I should thank him because if it wasn't for him," Jace gritted his teeth and shook his head, "then I wouldn't have met you… I feel horrible for thinking that… And I'm not going to thank Michael anymore. I don't want to thank him and basically just keep saying that to _him_ too… I-I don't want you to hate me for thinking that…"

Alyss laid her hand on his arm and rubbed gently. "As hard as it is to say…" She said with tears in her own eyes, "If it wasn't for him… I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have met the person I feel that connection with. But I can never thank him for almost cutting mom's ears off… and mine… Even if I could have just healed them back, the memory would be what haunts me. No matter what the reason is why we came here, I will never thank him. At least that's what I tell myself…" She sighed and shook her head, "But I find myself doing that… thanking him for what he did. I don't wanna say it… but I know I would've never met you. I don't want to say it but I can't deny it. Because of him, I met you."

"You're... having trouble with this too?" Jace asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah… If it was just me he did it to, I would just say it with no regrets. But... he hurt mom too…"

"I hate the thought of it…" Jace said.

"Me too, Jace. I don't hate you for thinking that... " Alyss sighed, "If he ever got caught, I wouldn't go back to Shade. I'd stay here with you."

"Thanks for talking with me about it…" Jace said and lightened his grip on the railing, "It's been eating me to not say something to you."

"Now we have that off our chests… I'm glad," Alyss wrapped Jace in a light hug, "I love you."

"I love you too… Pretty Kitty." Jace replied, turning in her arms and returning the embrace.

Alyss giggled at the name and smiled. "Let's go back down." She said and the two made their way back trough the doors and through the building.

"Alright everyone!" They heard Yang calling to everyone, "Listen up! Let's have the couples on the dance floor for the next song! Let's go!"

"Oh, maybe that's our song…" Alyss said and smiled as she heard the music, "It is!"

Jace gave a grin. " _Our_ song?"

"Because I love it and it makes you smile."

"Okay. That works. It's our song then. Let's go," Jace wiped at his eyes and Alyss hooked her arm in his, "I wonder if Raine's down there."

"Did my makeup run or anything?" Alyss asked and they stopped for a moment.

Jace took a good look at her face and smiled. "No, you're fine. Even if it did then you'd still look beautiful "

"Thanks," Alyss smiled, "I just don't want to look all messy when we still have the whole night to have fun."

* * *

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" Aulin asked as she and Auron made it back to where they left from.

"It…" Auron shook his head and grinned, "It was somethin' else."

"Thanks again for accepting Raine."

"No problem. She's my friend an' like I keep sayin', I like seein' my friends happy no matter what I think because that don't matter."

"This is how he always was," Pyrrha said with a smile, "He took almost any dare because he wanted to see his friends laugh and smile."

"That got me one o' my favorite things to eat too." Auron grinned.

"Yes, that as well." Pyrrha looked down but couldn't keep a grin from her face.

"Did we miss anything?"

"God-!" Auron turned around and sighed, "Damn it, why is everyone sneakin' up on me tonight?" He grumbled as everyone turned to Vivi and Raine.

"It's easy when you're distracted." Vivi grinned.

Auron shook his head again. "No, you didn't miss anything," He said and looked to where the two held hands with Vivi's tail wrapped around Raine's wrist, "The hell did _we_ miss?"

"Oh, just a little talk we had," Vivi said with a smile, "Raine told this one she loves her. And she said it back."

"That's nice," Pyrrha said, "If only it were that simple…" She muttered under her breath.

"I feel so much better getting that off my chest," Raine said, "Damn, it feels so great."

"Oh my Oum it's good that you finally got together!" Aulin laughed and stepped forward to hug her friend, "It's about time."

Raine hugged back and nodded. "Yeah. Finally. You give Auron his dance yet?"

"Oh yeah! I got him!" Aulin laughed, "Told you I had my ways."

"She didn't give me a chance to protest." Auron said.

"That's how ya do it." Aulin said with a grin.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Everyone heard Yang call over the speakers, "Let's have the couples on the dance floor for the next song! Let's go!" She called and the song started playing.

"Welp, you two get on out there," Auron told Vivi and Raine with a smile, "Time for you two to dance now."

Vivi looked to Raine and smiled widely. "Shall we, Little Fox?"

Raine nodded and smiled back. "Let's go, Big Kitty."

"Fuck it! Let's go too, Alex!" Aulin said and dragged Alex along with her.

Auron looked back at his friend and saw the look on her face. "Pyr, you might regret it if you don't."

"I know…" Pyrrha sighed.

Auron sighed as well and looked back to the dance floor where he saw Jace and Alyss return, dancing slowly with their arms wrapped around each other to the song. He saw that Jace had his tail wrapped around her waist and she was lightly rubbing her head against his shoulder. Vivi and Raine were slow as well and Vivi's tail did the same with her.

"I might try an' put myself back out there, y'know…" Auron said, smiling at seeing his friends.

"Are you ready for that after what happened with Samantha?" Pyrrha asked softly.

Auron shrugged. "Seein' all my friends out there dancin' an' havin' fun kinda makes me want somethin'. Like what Alyss an' Jace have… Probably weird hearin' that from a guy like me."

"Not at all. It's great that you're trying to move forward from that."

"Yeah, but…" Auron sighed, "I don't know how to try. I mean, I see all these girls here an' they're all pretty, but I wouldn't know who."

"You would just have to ask someone." Pyrrha told him.

Auron nodded and looked around at everyone, his gaze stopping as he saw a girl enter the room with a black dress with white wings designed on the front. She wore a necklace that held three crosses in separate spots. Her hair was dark-brown and dyed blonde on the ends, cascading down her back and down her chest. Her pink eyes caught his attention as well.

"Welp... Might as well go ask while I got it on my mind." Auron said and walked toward the girl.

* * *

"I really love this song." Alyss said and pulled herself tighter to Jace, lightly rubbing her head against his shoulder.

"Me too. I'm glad I watched a net-series a while ago." Jace said, swaying slowly with Alyss.

"What was it called?"

"I think it was something called Red versus Blue or something like that. It's really great. It's not really from the show, just inspired by it I think. I can't remember, really."

"Hey Alyss," Sapphire said from the side as she and Zack move closer to them, "What's the story with Raine and Vivi?"

Alyss looked around and saw the two a small ways away from them. She noticed the way they held hands and how Vivi's tail was sitting over Raine's waist. "I honestly don't know. But I guess Vivi loves Raine too." She smiled and returned to what she was doing before.

Zack gave a grin. "Isn't that how cats mark their territory? Claiming what's theirs?"

"Hush, Zack. Let them have their moment." Sapphire chided him with a giggle.

"Is that true?" Jace asked, "I never knew that."

"Well…" Alyss pressed her head against him, "I love you, so I'm claiming you. You're mine."

Jace gave a small chuckle and pressed his lips between her cat ears, drawing a short _purr_ from her. "It's really cute when you do it. I like it."

"Then I'm gonna keep doing it." Alyss said happily.

"Hey, who's Auron talking to?" Zack asked, looking over toward the doors and seeing the gunslinger talking to some girl.

The others followed his gaze. "I dunno…" Jace said, tilting his head a bit, "We'll ask him tomorrow."

"Let's leave him alone tonight. He's the only one without a date," Alyss said, observing the interaction between the two, "Maybe he's asking for a dance."


	21. Chapter 21: Choosing

**Chapter Twenty One**

 **Choosing**

The dance lasted until around eleven at night. Everyone had slowly went back to their dorms and the ballroom was cleaned up. Vivi had left Raine at the dorms and Raine smiled widely until she went to bed, Auron thought more about the girl he met and shared a short dance with toward the end of the night, and Jace and Alyss listened to a few songs from Jace's scroll before they went to bed.

The dance was livened up greatly when Jaune returned after that song, wearing a white dress and drawing a chorus of heavy laughs from everyone. Soon after, a cheery and bright song played and all of JNPR danced to it, drawing a larger chorus of applause from the whole room. After hearing that song, Jace went to find Yang to find out what the song was called and he bought it to add to his library.

All in all, everyone had fun.

The next morning came and Raine was the first to wake up. She remembered the night before and smiled once more. _"It's not a dream… We're actually together. I finally told her and she feels the same way."_ She thought to herself happily as she rose out of her bed, taking a few moments to stretch. She took a quick shower and was out of the bathroom in ten minutes. Thanks to her small body, she didn't have much ground to cover for cleaning, which was great for a group of four people who all take morning showers.

Soon after, Alyss woke up and extracted herself from her boyfriend's arms. She looked back at him and smiled at seeing the small smile on his face.

"Good morning, Raine." She said tiredly to the still-smiling fox Faunus.

"Morning." Raine said as she sipped on the iced coffee she retrieved from the refrigerator.

Everything went silent again as Alyss went through her morning routine, ending in a shower. She stepped out of the bathroom, shaking water out of her hair with a towel, wearing nothing but a bra and the school uniform's skirt.

"You had a good night." Alyss observed as she found the other items to the uniform.

"I did," Raine replied, "I think we all did. And you look like you're getting more comfortable around us, walking around in just a bra and a skirt like you are."

"I…" Alyss blushed at that, "I kinda figured that since we'll be going on more missions after this one, then we'll probably end up seeing it all anyway. Might as well get the awkwardness out of the way, right?" She offered with a shy smile, "At least between us two right now. It'll be weird for the others."

"Maybe. Seeing that is gonna cause someone to drool." Raine grinned and looked over at Jace.

Alyss followed the look and gave a smile. "I won't mind if he does."

"So, when are you gonna wake him up?"

Alyss thought on that for a moment. "I could right now."

"Alright. _How_ are you gonna wake him up?"

"Hmm…" Alyss let out a grin as she put the dress shirt and jacket on the table and she padded over to the foot of Jace's bed. She paced around slowly before lowering herself on all fours, swaying her backside back and forth. Raine looked between Alyss and Jace with a grin, then she noticed Jace stir a bit.

 _"This is gonna be great."_

Alyss moved back a bit from the bed and launched herself upward and over the edge with a wide grin on her face. That grin turned to a look of shock when Jace opened his arms up and caught her, pulling her down into the bed and holding her tightly.

"Mornin', Pretty Kitty." Jace said tiredly, opening his eyes and smiling at her.

"Umm… Good morning, sweetie," She said, still looking at him in shock, "How did you…?"

"I heard you talking to Raine and I just waited," Jace answered, showing a tired grin, "I kinda sensed when you jumped. Dunno how."

"Well that's no fun." Alyss pouted.

Jace _purred_ and rubbed the side of his head against her forehead. "Mine."

Alyss returned the affection and rubbed her head against his chest. "And you're mine."

"I expected a lot of yelling." Raine remarked before she took another sip of coffee.

"I expected something different than being caught and dragged down into the bed," Alyss laughed, "Not that I'm complaining."

"Mmm… me neither," Jace said and pointed his face away from Alyss', not wanting to yawn in her face, "I like the sight but I like the feeling more." He said, glancing down at Alyss' torso.

"Jace, stop staring." Alyss told him half-heartedly.

"I'm tired. Please?"

"No, we have to get up and get dressed," Alyss said, pulling herself up from his arms, "We need to get ready for the mission selection."

"Oh yeah!" Jace said excitedly and sat up in the bed, "We need to see if we can go to Calm for one!"

"I've never seen someone this excited to go to my home," Raine said with a grin, "You really like the apples."

"Damn right I do! It's my second favorite thing!"

"Second favorite?" Alyss asked, "What's your favorite?"

Jace gave a smirk and jumped up toward Alyss, wrapping her in a hug. "You."

"That's good because you're my favorite thing too." Alyss said cheerfully.

"Oh just get up and get dressed. We have a long day." Raine told them both.

"Fine," Jace grumbled and moved back from Alyss, "You're just mad because Vivi's not here so you can do the same."

"I'm not denying that, but you _do_ need to get up. You can keep snuggling after you get ready."

From there, Jace and Alyss got out of bed. Jace went to take a shower and Alyss finished putting her uniform on. She pulled the black socks all the way up to her thighs and slipped her shoes on, then she retrieved an iced coffee for herself and Jace from the refrigerator. She sat down across from Raine and opened a can.

"I'm so glad we decided to get these," Alyss said and sipped on hers, "They should make cherry flavored ones."

"Maybe they should," Raine gave a bit of a knowing grin, "I like these, but fresh and hot coffee is the best. Especially with honey stirred up in it."

"I like it too!" Jace called from the bathroom.

"I'm gonna ask him about that," Raine said, "Are you hoping to go anywhere for a mission?" She asked Alyss.

"Hmm… I'm good with going anywhere really. I wouldn't know of any other than Calm."

"I'm good for goin' there too," Auron said tiredly from his bed, "If it wasn't for us bein' first-years, I'd wanna go over to Anima."

"What? Hoping that Preacher would be our chaperone?" Raine asked with a grin.

"Wouldn't you want Jace an' Alyss to meet 'im too?"

"Maybe. If he's not too cranky." Raine laughed.

"I'm sure Raine wants someone else to be our chaperone." Alyss said, giving her own grin toward Raine.

"Now can you really blame me for wanting to spend more time with Vivi?" Raine asked with a smile, "I just started actually dating her."

Jace finished with his shower and stepped out of the bathroom, hair still hanging freely out of its usual ponytail. "You think it's a dream, right?"

Raine nodded. "I'm guessing you felt the same?"

"Yeah. It's an awesome feeling."

"How in the world do you take a shower so fast?" Alyss asked Jace.

"Did you just notice I take fast showers?" Jace asked in return.

Alyss shrugged. "Kinda, yeah." She admitted.

"Bolt dust!" Jace exclaimed, grinning, "Makes it go fast for me."

"That explains it, I guess." Raine said.

"Oh okay. And speaking of the dance…" Alyss turned to Auron, who was rising out of his bed, "We're gonna talk later."

"Okay… I don't know if I should be worried or not." Auron said and found his uniform pants.

"It's nothing too bad." Alyss assured him.

"Alright then." Auron entered the bathroom and the others looked at each other.

"Hey Jace, you said you like honey in your coffee," Raine said to the great-weapon fighter, "How did you find out about it?"

"Something that only your family does right?" Jace asked and she nodded, "How do you think?" He smirked.

"I'm guessing Emowyn asked if you guys had honey, didn't she?"

"Yeah. And it's really good," Jace straightened out his dress shirt and grabbed the can of coffee that Alyss got for him, "But I honestly think I might like this better because of convenience. Just need to try to add honey."

"Or cherries if you listen to Alyss." Raine said.

"Cherries are amazing and I'm going to get one." Alyss said and went to the refrigerator.

"And I'm getting an apple." Jace said and grabbed the bag of the red fruits.

"Well I'll just drink my coffee," Raine said for herself and took a long drink of it, "Wish I had some black walnuts."

* * *

"Alright. Now we wait." Jace said and crossed his arms.

They were called to the amphitheater with all the other first-year students and they sat on a bench, just waiting for the selection to start. Alyss sat next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Auron and Raine sat on either side of them.

"That jerky should be done soakin' by now," Auron told them, "I'll put it in the dehydrator an' we can have that to snack on when we go."

"Good thinking," Jace said, "We'll need something on the way there at least."

"Think there'll be any left when we get back?" Raine asked.

"Not a chance in hell." Auron laughed.

"More for us!" Alyss chirped from Jace's shoulder.

"More what for you now?" They heard Genesis ask as he and his team arrived, "You two aren't taking catnip, are you?"

"What? No, of course not. Unless you snuck some into my food," Jace told him, shooting him a glare, " _Again_."

"What does catnip do exactly?" Nika asked, looking at the brothers in confusion.

"From hearing Neon," Liza piped up, "It's basically a drug for cat Faunus. Like cannabis."

"And this motherfucker spiked my food last year!" Jace yelled, pointing at Genesis.

"Jace! No cussing!" They heard Sapphire call from somewhere.

"Sorry!" Jace called back as she walked up to them with Zack by her side.

"Just because you're dating our Kitty Cat doesn't mean you can cuss and get away with it." She told him.

"Doesn't he get yelled at for spiking my food?" Jace asked, pointing at Genesis again as the red-haired boy laughed.

"He didn't cuss."

"But-"

"May I have everyone's attention, please." Ozpin called through the microphone on the stage.

Jace looked at Genesis and growled. "Stay away from my food."

"Didn't plan on doing anything, lil' bro."

All the students gave Ozpin their attention and he continued. "Today is the day of your first missions as Huntsmen. You will pick a mission from one of the holo-boards scattered around the room and you will return to your dorms to prepare. You will only be allowed missions within the kingdom. You will be paid the full amount that a Huntsman would receive. If you have any questions, feel free to ask either miss Goodwitch or myself. Now, choose your missions."

From there, all of the students scattered around to the boards. Genesis and his team went with Jace's team to one of the boards, which was occupied by another team.

"Where are you hoping to go for a mission, Gen?" Alyss asked the red-haired teen.

"Maybe somewhere along the coast. Maybe that one village, I think it's called Gaia," Genesis replied, "I've heard they've been having Wretch problems and it might be a good chance to have a beach day."

"That sounds nice," Liza said, "Hopefully we improved enough to actually help you guys."

"I'm sure you can if you've been training," Jace said to them, "Your weapons are pretty fast and Michael can pull things away if someone's overran. As long as you don't get overconfident, you should be good."

"Plus I guess I can use _Whipsaw_ to keep them at a distance, too." Michael added.

"We got this, guys. Oh! It's open." Genesis said and quickly stepped up to the board.

"Whaddya got?" Auron asked.

"Let's see here…" Genesis scrolled through the lists, lip bit in thought as he scanned through the entries, "They have a search and destroy ten miles south of Gaia and an extermination just a mile east down the coast. We'll go with that one. You guys good on that?" He asked his team and they nodded. Genesis put his team name in the box and it turned green, signaling they took it.

He turned to Jace and his team as he turned from the board. "You wanna take the other one there?"

"Depends…" Jace said and stepped up to the board. He kept the page number of the search and destroy mission in his mind as he went back to page one, searching slowly through them. He hummed a bit and decided to narrow the search by villages starting with 'C'. After a moment, the list refreshed and the third one down was Calm.

"Haha! Yes!" Jace exclaimed and turned to his team, "Calm's here!" He told them and read the details. "Oh, security detail for a caravan of three horse-drawn wagons to the village of Pyne. Wanna go?" He asked his team and received nods.

Jace quickly put his team name in the box and it lit up green. "That's the fastest I've ever seen your fingers move." Genesis remarked.

"I really wanna go there," Jace said and something popped up on the screen, "Two teams recommended?"

"That is one of the only few that two teams are recommended for."

The group turned to see Ozpin standing behind them. "Oh, hello sir," Jace greeted the headmaster, "Would it really be that dangerous?"

"It is a delivery to another village by wagons," Ozpin replied, "Doing so is not expensive at all but it _does_ carry higher risk than vehicles."

"It's slower and there are horses to take care of," Raine added, "Like I told you guys before, the farmers try to make the most out of their produce. It would be a huge waste of lien to use an airship or trucks for a village that close. It's about a week for one wagon to go from Calm to Pyne. Three wagons might take three weeks and Grimm are gonna be a problem."

"That is very true," Ozpin said, nodding toward Raine, "I won't tell you that you cannot go as one team, but I _will_ say to consider asking another team. It will make the mission a bit easier on all involved."

Ozpin walked on from them and JKDW looked between each other. "I say we find another team," Jace told them, "We might not be able to keep everyone safe if it was us alone."

"That would be for the best," Alyss agreed, "I have my semblance, but I'd get tired from constant healing if something bad happened."

"We're gonna go get ready for ours," Genesis said to Jace, "I'd offer for us to go, but we're locked in for Gaia."

"That's fine, man. We'll think of something." Jace said and team GLSS separated from them.

Auron let out a sigh. "Think Sapphire, Tyr, or Aulin found missions yet?"

"We'll have to go find them and ask." Raine said.

"Let's split up and find them," Alyss suggested, "We need to find them fast so we can all get ready."

"Yeah. Let's go." Jace said and the group separated to different corners of the amphitheater.

Raine slid past tightly packed students, trying to find Aulin in her usual outfit outside of classes. JNPR or RWBY would be good choices as well, she thought. She didn't want some random team taking that spot, some team she knew nothing about and she sure as hell didn't want the risk of a team of stupid racists signing up for it. She pushed herself faster through the crowd, quickly apologizing to people she accidentally bumped into. She caught sight of the exposed midriff of her friend and rushed toward her, rolling her eyes a bit. Aulin always chose to wear that during these things, no mater how many times she was told to wear her school uniform. She always said it was more comfortable.

Raine felt a hand clamp around her arm and she turned around, ripping her arm away from the person.

"Hey little foxy, you gotta watch where you're going unless you wanna run into some trouble."

The black and short-haired teen she faced looked down at her with a condescending sneer, hate apparent in his mint-colored eyes. His uniform suggested he was from Atlas.

"Why don't you fuck off so I can go talk to people that are actually worth a person's time." Raine told him and turned to walk away, but the boy grabbed her arm and turned her around again.

"Hey! Don't you talk to me like that you little bitch!" The boy yelled at her.

"Are you calling me that because I'm a woman or because I'm a fox Faunus?" Raine asked with a scowl.

"I call it like I see it. What I see is a female dog, so-"

"Hey asshole, why don't you try pushing around someone bigger than you?"

The teen turned around and looked straight into Jace's chin. He looked up and sneered. "The hell are you gonna do, freak?"

Jace's fist clenched at the word. "Have you never heard of a Ranger or something?"

"What-Gah!"

The boy yelled as Raine grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him. She kicked the back of his knee and sent him to the ground, then she shoved two of her fingers into the base of his neck between the shoulder blades causing him to yelp in pain.

"What do you think you're doing!" One of the teen's teammates yelled and charged her, the boy's long blue hair flowing behind him.

Jace stuck his foot out and tripped him, then he grabbed the back of his head and slammed him to the floor, holding him there. The last two members of the team rushed toward them, a boy with short and brown spiky hair and a girl with her shoulder-length red hair wrapped in a ponytail.

"I didn't expect this crap today." Jace remarked dryly as he pressed the boy's face harder to the floor.

"I must say, I did not expect this either." Glynda said behind everyone, making the two unoccupied students stand straight up in attention.

"M-miss Goodwitch! They're attacking our teammates!" The girl said frantically, "Please do something!"

"Mister Reznor, miss Daturas," Glynda said in a commanding voice, "Release them at once."

"Yes ma'am." Both of them said, letting go of the two and standing in attention.

"You both should know that we do not condone violence outside of sparring," Glynda told them, "And this day is intended to be used to prepare students for their first missions. But, if you both are so keen on attacking visiting students…" The grins on the Atlesian students' faces were noticeable, "then we will be-"

Jace opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by another voice. "If this one may interject, miss Goodwitch…"

Glynda turned around at the voice and was startled when her former student removed her hood, showing her blue and black hair, golden eyes, cat ears, and multiple piercings.

"This one saw everything. She has a video to proves Raine and Jace weren't the aggressors."

"What proof do you have, miss Strife?" Glynda asked her.

One of the Atlesians opened his mouth. "Miss Goodwitch! Are you seriously gonna listen to that-"

"Silence, mister Greene!" Glynda told him harshly and looked at the scroll Vivi brought out.

After a few moments, Glynda nodded to Vivi. "Thank you, miss Strife," She said and turned to the others, "And _you_ four," She glared at the full team, "I do not tolerate racism or unwarranted physicality. Especially if it is against my own students. You, mister Greene, laid your hand on miss Daturas and she was justified in retaliation. Mister Reznor helped his partner, as he should in times such as this. Due to your act of blatant racism and intent to harm a fellow student, your team is now banned from participating in missions and you four will be confined to your dorm room for the entirety of the Vytal Festival, barring classes. Do I make myself clear?"

When the four didn't answer, she snapped her riding crop toward them, making them flinch. "Do I make myself clear?" She asked more firmly.

"That's... not fair!" The girl exclaimed, "You're just doing this to us because we're from a different kingdom!"

"Miss Jade, I do not care for what you are insinuating," Glynda glared at her, "If General Ironwood were here, he would tell you the same thing."

"It's people like you that give Atlesians a bad name," Jace told the four, "Ironwood would give you worse than what Glynda is doing."

"How the hell would you know, you freak!?" The blue-haired boy yelled the question at him.

"Because he was my student as well, mister Hue."

The four stood up even straighter at the stern sound of Ironwood's voice. "Jace came to this school because of students such as yourselves. And he's right. You make every Atlesian look bad in the public eye."

"She's banning us from missions and she's locking us in our room!" Hue exclaimed and pointed at Glynda, "It's not-"

"That's enough!" Ironwood raised his voice and cut him off. He looked to Glynda for a moment, then he looked to Vivi, "What did you show Glynda?"

"Here you go, General." Vivi said and quickly showed him the video.

As it ended, Ironwood scowled toward his students. "Miss Goodwitch let you off lightly. _I_ will not. You four are banned from competing in the tournament for your behavior and you will be sent back to Atlas first thing in the morning. Do I make myself clear?" The four nodded, shrinking under his gaze, "Now, return to your dorm. Pack your things and prepare to leave." He ordered them and they slowly left.

He turned to Glynda and sighed. "I apologize for undermining your own authority, Glynda. But they are my students and I am responsible for their behavior. I will not have them harm any students from Beacon or the other schools."

Glynda nodded slowly. "It's alright, James. I didn't wish to cause any tension between Atlas and Beacon by sending them back to Atlas myself."

Ironwood gave a small grin and he turned to Jace, nodding before he left them.

Glynda looked around at the spectating students and frowned. "All of you return to your business!" She called to them all and they dispersed.

She turned back to Jace and Raine to address them. "I apologize for nearly banning your team from missions. I did not have knowledge of what truly transpired."

"It's alright, miss Goodwitch," Jace said, "I would've thought the same thing."

Glynda turned to Vivi and nodded. "Thank you for preventing me from making a grave mistake, Vivian."

Vivi nodded back and smiled. "Good thing I was meant to keep watch here today too."

"It is. I will leave you to your own devices." Glynda said and strode off.

Raine smiled and went forward to hug the Ranger. "Thanks, Vivi."

"It wasn't a problem, Little Fox," Vivi returned the hug and the smile, "I couldn't have you not visit your home."

"You saw where we're going?" Jace asked her.

"Yeah. This one's semblance is silent movement. And this cloak keeps her concealed even in crowded places."

"Why did you come this way, Jace?" Raine asked her partner.

Jace shrugged, pointing at his ears. "I heard you yelling and then it got quiet over this way, so I came to see what was happening."

"You know I could've handled them. Ranger's apprentice, remember?"

"I know. I just couldn't pass the opportunity to make racists look like jackasses."

"Well, we definitely did that," Raine grinned, "I think we should find Aulin or Sapphire or Tyr fast before another team gets the spot."

"I saw Aulin a second ago. I'll go get her." Jace said and left the two Rangers.

Raine looked up at Vivi and pecked her on the cheek. "Thanks again.

Vivi smiled widely. "Go on and find your team. This one has a job to do."

* * *

"Alright, Tyr said they already have an extermination a hundred miles southeast of Vale and Saph said they took the search and destroy near Gaia," Alyss told her team and SLVR at a holo-board, "We need a team to go with us for our security mission."

"Yeah, Jace explained that to us," Aulin said and looked through her team, "What do you guys say?"

"I'm in," Alex said quickly, "I get to spend more quality time bonding with my new brother."

"I want to go as well," Bell spoke loudly so they could hear over all the other students, "I have wanted to go to Calm after Raine told us so much about it."

"I'm okay with going too," Inuvali said, "It gives me a chance to buy new whetstones for _Orochi_."

"Alright. We're in." Aulin said and put her team's name in the box below JKDW's. It lit up green and Jace noticed something else pop up.

"It says since it's two teams, we'll have two chaperones." He said.

"Alright, let's go get ready." Auron said and they separated.

Jace and his team left the building and went toward the dorms. Raine had a smile on her face once again after she saw Vivi, and Jace wore a grin after what had happened with the team that tried to bully Raine.

"Fuck, I'm gonna have to share with more people." Auron laughed and shook his head.

"At least you have a lot." Raine told him.

"Yeah, but now it ain't gonna last long at all."

"I'm gonna be going between the jerky and apples." Jace said.

"Same with me and cherries." Alyss added.

Auron gave a sigh and shook his head. "Maybe I should find somethin' else to snack on. I've always been partial to oranges."

"Oh they're really good in Calm," Raine said, "You should try one."

"I'll get a few before we head to Pyne."

They made it back to their room and Auron took the jerky to the kitchen to let it dehydrate for a couple of hours. Raine had taken to making sure her arrows were undamaged as Jace and Alyss looked over their own weapons. Alyss took to sharpening the blade of _Soul Leaf_ while Jace sat next to her and completely took _Legacy_ apart, looking over every small part to make sure nothing was rusted or bent out of place. Either way it went, he cleaned and oiled the parts carefully.

After an hour, Jace put his weapon back together and set it against the wall, flexing his fingers from the work. Alyss reached over and interlocked their fingers, then she leaned her head against his shoulder. After a few moments, they moved over to the bed and just laid next to each other. Raine finished with her arrows and laid on her bed as well, just relaxing.

After an hour longer, Auron returned and set a large bowl of jerky down on his desk. "Alright, all o' you stay outta this until tomorrow." He told his team.

"Got it." Jace said as he pulled himself closer to Alyss.

"I don't feel like moving, so I'll wait." Alyss said for herself.

"I guess you'll only have to worry about me sneaking a piece of it." Raine said, rolling her eyes at Jace and Alyss.

Auron shook his head and started putting the jerky in plastic bags. "I'm makin' a bag for everyone goin', includin' who's supposed to be watchin' us. It should be enough for us all to eat around on for maybe a week. Could last the whole time if we all moderate how much we eat."

"Either way, you'll probably be making more when we get back." Jace said.

"Probably," Auron admitted, "Anyway, that's all my things done for the day."

"Hey Auron, who was that girl you danced with last night?" Alyss asked her partner.

"I figured someone would ask," Auron said and sat down at the table, "Her name's Shyla."

"Is she new here?" Jace asked, "I've never seen her around."

"Well…" Auron shook his head, "She's not a student. She's a weapon designer an' she was meetin' with Ironwood about somethin'."

"Really? At the dance?" Alyss asked, showing a small grin.

"She said Ironwood told her it might be the best place so they didn't have to go through meetin' in a stuffy office or whatever. After she told me that, she went to find Ironwood an' I went back to talk to Pyr."

"But we saw you dancing with her." Raine said, cocking an eyebrow.

Auron gave a small smile. "That's 'cause she found me after she saw the General. She wanted to give me that dance I asked for. It was sweet of her to do. We talked a bit an' we ended up tradin' numbers."

"You gonna talk to her more?" Jace asked him.

"Definitely. I ain't gonna ask for a number an' just ignore a person."

"Oh, so _you_ asked?" Alyss said, giving a smile.

"Umm… Yeah, I did," Auron answered, smiling a bit, "I hope somethin' holds between us. I'm takin' it slow 'cause I don't want a repeat o' my first relationship."

"That a story for another time?" Alyss asked softly.

Auron shrugged. "Eh, I figure I can get it off my chest to kill some time…"


	22. Chapter 22: Calm

**AN: I legitimately feel bad about missing a day of posting yesterday just because I was tired and I forgot, added onto internet problems. Anyway, I'm still posting tomorrow too unless that happens again, which I hope it doesn't.**

 **Actually, I honestly can't remember if I posted yesterday and that makes me feel worse.**

 **Chapter Twenty Two**

 **Calm**

"All freshmen students departing for missions are to report to the courtyard to meet with your chaperones." Ozpin called through the intercom system.

Jace looked up from sharpening his sword and set the whetstone in his duffle bag. "Looks like it's showtime."

Auron rose from his chair and put his hat on his head. "Yep. This is kinda technically my second mission," He told his team and put his revolvers in their holsters, "Takin' out that Geist was basically my first."

"Hopefully there aren't any of them to fight," Alyss said, putting _Soul Leaf_ through the hoop on her small harness, "At least there are no Threshers or Stalkers or Crawlers around that part of the world," Alyss shuddered, "Those things are just… Screw that."

"That's the first time I've heard you say something like that, Aly," Jace said and looked at her, "I'm shocked."

"Yeah, because _screw that_." Alyss replied.

"What about Arachs?" Raine asked as she clipped her quiver to her harness, then she slung her bow across her back. _Shagahod_ was at her hip, almost like a regular sheath, but Raine sent aura through her side and back to activate the rigging of the sling, moving the rifle to her back, "I mean, they usually stay in caves but they're bad."

"I will light a cave on fire if I have to kill those things." Jace remarked as he set _Legacy_ on his back.

"Aw, is my Kitten afraid of spiders?" Alyss asked in a mocking tone.

"Fuck those things. I read horrible things about their venom." Jace replied, crossing his arms and shivering a bit.

Each of them gathered what they would take with them and Auron handed out the jerky to the rest of the team. He carried the extra six bags in a larger plastic bag and they left the room. Jace held Alyss' hand lightly as he wrapped his tail around her thigh, the feeling making her smile.

After a while of walking, they arrived to the courtyard where Jace received a message on his scroll. He looked at it and grinned before he put it back in his pocket. "Alright, one of our designated Huntsmen is waiting near the center statue with SLVR."

"Who are they?" Alyss asked him.

"You'll see."

"Aly! Wait up!"

Alyss turned at the call and saw SHRA running up to them. "Hey guys. Ready for your mission?"

"Beach day! Woohoo!" Heath exclaimed with a grin.

"Heath's obviously ready." Jace remarked.

"She is," Sapphire grinned, "We're taking the same bullhead with GLSS since we're going to the same place."

"Just watch that you don't get sand in your ears." Alyss said to Sapphire and Zack.

"That's why I'm packing a new bandanna so my ears can be protected from it." Zack said with a grin.

"What's in the bag?" Barrett asked, pointing to the plastic bag Auron carried.

"Umm…" Auron looked between Sapphire and the others, rubbing the back of his neck, "It's… deer jerky."

The group went quiet for several moments. Sapphire looked at Auron, narrowing her eyes at him and the bag he was holding. "Deer jerky, huh?"

"Yep."

"I uh… I wasn't prepared for how awkward this would be." Jace remarked.

"You.. wanna try a piece?" Auron asked Sapphire.

"Sure." Sapphire replied, reaching her hand out.

Everyone looked to her in shock. "What? It's just food. Don't make it weirder than it already sounds." She told everyone as Auron handed her a piece from his own bag.

"It's just… strange to see a _deer_ Faunus eat _deer_ jerky." Zack remarked as Sapphire took a bite of the jerky.

"How do you like it, Saph?" Alyss asked her.

"It's… really _really_ good," Sapphire answered her, offering half of it to Zack, "Try it."

Zack took it out of her hand with his teeth and chewed on it for a few moments. "Can I have more?"

"Nope!" Auron said, zipping the bag back up, "Gotta save it over the next couple weeks. I got a bag for each person goin' with us an' that's is."

"That sucks! I wanna try a piece!" Heath pouted.

"Calm down Sunshine," Barrett told her with a grin, "He'll be back to make more."

"You'd better!" Heath told Auron.

"Yeah I will. Y'all are gonna work me to the bone." Auron shook his head and sighed.

"I'll hold ya to it."

"Let's not bug him too much," Sapphire said, "We have to go meet our chaperone."

"See you guys in a few weeks." Jace said and SHRA walked on.

"Alright. Let's go meet up with the others." Raine said and they walked on toward the center statue in the courtyard. After walking for a few moments, they made their way through a small crowd of students and they caught sight of their teammates for the next few weeks, along with one of their chaperones.

"Uncle Gil!" Raine exclaimed with a smile and ran toward the red-haired man.

"Well hey there, pup!" The man called to her and waved, his dark-violet eyes looking on in happiness and his red, white-tipped tail wagging behind him in the same emotion. On his back was a recurve bow, adorned with designs of leaves along the body of it. Like all members of the Daturas family, it had an actual string. His quiver was attached to his right hip and on his left hip was a falchion with a red-wrapped hilt and a flat pommel with a chain dangling from it with the Ranger emblem attached. He wore a pair of brown pants with a pair of black kneepads, black combat boots, and a black muscle shirt.

Raine crashed into him and hugged him tightly. "Good to see you, Gil."

"You too, Raine," Gilan grinned and ruffled her hair, "How's things been?"

"Good," Raine said and stepped from him, "It's been really great. My team is awesome."

"Aulin told me as much," Gilan looked over to the purple-haired girl, who gave a grin, "She also told me you have a girlfriend of the cat Faunus persuasion. Blue and black hair. Ears and tail…" He grinned to see the beaming smile on his niece's face, "I'm glad you're happy."

"Raine, you left us in the dust with how fast you ran." Alyss said as she and the other two arrived.

"Sorry guys, I had to give my uncle a good hug," Raine said, "Gilan, these three are my teammates. Jace, Auron, and Alyss," She pointed them out, "And this is my uncle, Gilan. He's a Ranger."

"Good to meet you." The three of them greeted.

"You too. So, now we have to wait for the other chaperone." Gilan said.

"Emowyn talked a lot about you," Auron said with a grin, "She said you had a more laid-back attitude than Halt."

"Yeah, but I can still get the job done. I just like taking it easy every now and then. If I can during a mission, then I will." Gilan answered him.

"I'm sure you can take it easy on this one since we'll all be doing the work." Jace said.

"I mean, we're supposed to see how you do and help if we're needed. So yeah. I can take it easy."

"Aren't you supposed to be up in Atlas?" Raine asked Gilan.

"Remington called me and asked if I wanted to take a chaperoning thing here. I just didn't expect I'd be chaperoning Aulin's team."

"Neither did we. It's pretty awesome," Aulin said "He can tell us embarrassing stories about you, Raine."

"What, like the time she jumped out of a tree and landed on her face?"

"Shut up, Gil!" Raine yelled at him.

"Whoa, what's that story now?" Jace asked.

"Just her strategy for passing our tests," Gilan laughed at the blush of embarrassment on Raine's cheeks, "Only it didn't work out one time. She jumped out at me from a tree and her foot got caught by a branch. Then she hit the ground."

"Seriously Raine?" Aulin laughed hard, holding her gut as her body shook, "I thought Rangers were always good on their feet?"

"Shut up. It was my third test and I got overconfident," Raine crossed her arms, "Oh stop laughing! Your boobs are distracting Alex!"

"What? - No she's not!" Alex exclaimed, looking confused as he looked up and away from the group.

"Oh, you're staring again, Alex?" Inuvali asked with a grin.

"N-no! I swear I wasn't!"

"Alex..." Bell pressed, tilting her head with a knowing smirk on her face.

Alex sighed and grinned. "Maybe a little. Hard not to."

Aulin calmed her body as much as she could and flashed both Alex and Raine a grin. "So, you got overconfident." She said to Raine and winked at Alex.

Raine crossed her arms. "Yes, I did. I passed the first two tests easy and then I just-"

"Jumped the gun and got caught," Gilan interrupted, "That was one failed test out of ten. You learned from that and you took it slow the next times. It's a smart strategy really."

"What _is_ your strategy anyway?" Auron asked Raine.

"If someone's looking for me, I hide in a tree," Raine explained, "If someone's looking for an intruder, they rarely look up."

"She's the only one that's ever thought like that and she caught every Ranger off guard that tested her." Gilan said, grinning with pride.

"Didn't you tell me that you almost have your dad a heart attack?" Aulin asked Raine.

"Yeah, he was my first tester," Raine let out a grin, "When I jumped out of the tree, I snatched the tag from his belt before I hit the ground and he had this look on his face," She laughed when she thought back to it, "It was priceless."

"And now all you have to do is graduate Beacon," Gilan said, "Just don't hide on the library shelves from your teachers."

Raine shook her head. "I promise I'll try not to."

"So…" Alyss spoke up, a question picking at her mind, "Who's our chaperone?"

"You should maybe look behind you." Gilan told them.

They turned around and saw the smiling form of Vivi standing behind them. "Hi."

"You're our chaperone?" Raine asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Talk about a chance to spend time together." Vivi said and hugged Raine.

"Talk about a stacked team, too," Alex remarked, "I mean, we have three Rangers."

"But like I said, we're only here if we're needed and we need to keep a report on how you do." Gilan told them all.

"And just because you are this one's girlfriend doesn't mean you can get an easy mission," Vivi said to Raine, "We won't make it easier."

"We would not want it any other way." Bell said.

"We'll all pull our weight." Inuvali added.

"Good," Gilan nodded, "Now, let's get going. We have a long flight to get there."

* * *

"It's nice that they let us use a bigger bullhead for this." Alyss said to the group as the ship flew over the treetops. Aulin, Alex, and Auron had decided to get some sleep on the flight, leaving the rest to talk quietly.

"It's what they give for if two teams are required." Gilan replied.

Alyss laid her head on Jace's shoulder and looked through the window of the side door. "How loud is Calm, exactly?" Bell asked.

"Like its name. It's pretty calm and quiet even though it's one of the biggest villages." Raine answered her.

"That is good to know." Bell said.

"The actual mission doesn't start until the day after tomorrow," Vivi said to everyone, holding Raine's hand in her lap, "It gives us time to arrive and get a couple nights of sleep, and a day for you all to look around."

"And just because protocol demands it, you guys know the details of the mission, right?" Gilan asked everyone.

"Yeah. We're security detail for a caravan heading to Pyne," Jace answered, "Three wagons."

"Alright then. Even though it's not for another day, don't stay out late," Gilan said, looking at Jace and Alyss, then Vivi and Raine, "And don't stay up late where we stay."

"Gil, zip it." Raine told him.

"Are you going to visit your parents?" Inuvali asked her.

Raine nodded. "Yeah. They have to meet my team and I'm sure they'd want to know I'm dating Vivi."

"How do you think they'll take that?" Jace asked.

"Halt might blow a gasket." Gilan grinned.

Raine rolled her eyes. "No he won't. You're just saying that because he's your twin."

"Twins?" Alyss echoed, looking at Gilan in curiosity.

"Yeah. Fraternal twins. He was born five minutes before me." Gilan answered her.

"They're nothing alike." Raine said.

"No we are not." Gilan laughed.

* * *

"We're coming up on the village. Five minutes." The pilot said to everyone.

"Alright, wake everyone up." Gilan said and the teens woke the others from their sleep.

"We there yet?" Aulin asked tiredly, taking her head from Alex's shoulder.

"Five minutes," Jace said and rolled his neck, popping it a couple times, "Are we supposed to meet with anyone?" He asked the Rangers.

"The head merchant and the farmer exporting the fruit," Gilan answered, "And the headman."

"Just specify who's the leader of the teams and be respectful," Vivi told them, "You wanna make a good first impression, right?"

"Definitely." Jace said.

Auron yawned and brought up the bag he had been carrying with him. "I guess this is as good a time as any," He said and started handing out bags, "This is deer jerky. Try to moderate how much you eat 'cause that's all you're gettin'."

"Sweet! I was wondering what you brought in the bag." Aulin said and took hers.

"When did you have time to make this?" Bell asked as she retrieved hers.

"I started it a couple days before the dance. Some of it was supposed to be for Pyrrha, but I can always make more." Auron said.

"Benefits of having a team cook." Alyss grinned.

"Pretty damn good benefits." Alex said as he stuck a piece in his mouth.

After another minute, the bullhead slowly landed on the pad and the doors opened. The Rangers stepped out first and the others followed. They all stepped away from the bullhead and the landing pad and met with three people.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to Calm," The six foot tall, hazel-eyed one in front bowed to them, showing his gray hair, and they bowed back in greeting. He wore a dark red robe that was adorned with silver trimmings.

"I am Bowing, the village headman. This is Lawrence and Lucio. The head merchant and the farmer who is sending the caravan out." The two nodded to them. One man was young but had silver hair and green eyes, and the other was bald and had orange eyes. Six feet and one inch tall and five feet and eight inches tall respectively.

"Good to meet you all. I'm Jace Reznor, leader of team JKDW," Jace introduced himself, "This is my team. Auron Karmine, Raine Daturas, and Alyssia Wystar."

"Please, call me Alyss." Alyss said politely.

"Ah, I was wondering what was so familiar about this group," Lucio grinned, "Good to have you back, Raine."

"Good to be back, Lucio." Raine said.

"And I'm Aulin Sylvana. I'm the leader of team SLVR," Aulin began to introduce her team, "And these are my teammates. Inuvali Lirra, Bell Vonas and Alex Reznor."

"I was a bit worried when we decided to have our caravan watched by students," Lawrence admitted and looked through everyone there, "But you kids look like you'll take good care of it."

"I hope it doesn't happen, but if someone gets hurt I can heal them with my semblance." Alyss told them.

Bowing gave a smile. "It's great to know the drivers are in good hands then."

"We have a room at the inn ready for you all," Lawrence told them, "We'll take you to it and then you're free to your own devices for today and tomorrow."

"That sounds good," Gilan said, "Let's go get settled in."

"I'm sure you kids must be starving after your flight, so we prepared a meal for you as well." Bowing told them all.

"That sounds great, sir. Thank you." Jace said.

"Think nothing of it. I hope you all enjoy our village while you're here."

* * *

The two teams arrived at the inn and ate the meal quickly, thanking the innkeepers and then dropping their bags off in their room. They decided to separate and do different things. Aulin and her team explored the open market while JKDW, Vivi, and Gilan ventured outside the village's walls.

"Does Halt still keep those hinges all rusty and squeaky?" Gilan asked his niece.

"Yep. He says it's for security, but I really don't understand it." Raine answered him.

"He never gives you a straight answer either?" Gilan sighed, "Then I doubt we'll ever know."

"What's he like?" Alyss asked.

"He's nice as he can be, but don't cross him," Raine said, "He doesn't like any jokes about how a fox Faunus is mated to a deer Faunus, so don't do that."

"I never planned on it," Jace said, "As cheesy as it sounds, love is love. Like a cat Faunus dating a fox Faunus."

"True. Love is love, and this cat Faunus does love her Little Fox." Vivi said with a smile.

"All y'all are fuckin' nauseatin' with that shit." Auron remarked, shaking his head.

"Oh come on, Auron. Have you talked to Shyla any more?" Jace asked the gunslinger.

"I did an' she's at work. She'll message me back later." Auron replied.

"Oh so _I'm_ the lonely one?" Gilan asked in mock hurt.

"Really uncle Gil? What about that woman you were talking about at the Gathering?" Raine questioned him.

"Well she's not here now is she?"

"Neither is Shyla."

"We ain't even datin'!" Auron crossed his arms in a huff.

"Whatever," Gilan rolled his eyes, "Now be quiet. Don't wanna spoil the surprise, do you?"

From there, the group walked quietly until they came across a small clearing with a cabin in the middle. On the right side of the house was a small shack with firewood stacked high in it, and under an extended part of the roof was a forge and workshop area. The house itself had a small porch in the front with two chairs on either side of the door.

"Home sweet home." Raine said and the group walked forward toward the house.

A window on the side opened up and a woman with almond-colored hair and ears of a deer poked her head out. "Raine?"

"Hey mom!" Raine called with a wave.

The woman immediately ducked back into the house and in a few moments, the front door opened and she stepped outside. She ran forward and wrapped Raine in a hug. "I didn't expect you back so soon!"

"Well, my leader kinda wanted to come here for the apples." Raine laughed and hugged back.

"I'm not gonna lie, that _is_ the main reason I wanted to come here on a mission." Jace said.

"Oh, so you're not here long?" The Faunus asked.

"No, only for today and tomorrow. We leave with the caravan on Wendsday." Raine explained.

"Hey Nia, don't you think you should introduce yourself to her team?" Gilan asked.

"Oh, right!" She laughed and turned to the other teens, "I'm Nia Daturas. Raine's mother."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Auron said, "Good to finally meet Emowyn's mom."

"Oh, you're Auron Karmine, then?" Nia asked and he nodded, "Good to meet you too. And just call me Nia, please."

"I'm Jace Reznor." Jace introduced himself.

"And I'm Alyssia Wystar. Nice to meet you, Nia," Alyss introduced herself sweetly, "Just call me Alyss."

"Please come in, everyone," Nia said and led the group into the home, "It's good to have visitors."

They all entered the living room and they sat down in different couches and chairs around a short table. The vidcaster was on, showing the news of the opening of a new weapon shop in Atlas. Nia went to the kitchen and retrieved bottles of water for everyone, then she sat down with them.

"Where's dad at?" Raine asked.

"He's picking up groceries. I'm sure this is going to be a surprise." Nia answered her.

"A Ranger reduced to fetching groceries… Man, have we fallen so far?" Gilan asked mockingly.

"Hush, you," Nia chided him and rolled her eyes, then she turned to Vivi, "It's good to see you again too, Vivi."

"This one is glad you didn't forget about her," Vivi laughed, "It's good to see you too."

"Umm, mom," Raine started nervously, "I guess you should know me and Vivi are dating."

Nia nodded and smiled. "I guessed that when I saw you two holding hands outside."

"Okay… How do you feel about it?"

"I can't be mad that you found someone you love and I know you've known each other for close to three years. I know how you've always talked about her, Raine."

"Well, you know…" Raine rubbed the back of her neck, "She's pretty great."

"So are you." Vivi said.

"I'm not going to ignore how you're like Vivi, either," Nia said, turning to Jace, "Are you brother and sister or something?"

Jace laughed, a bit uneasily, and shook his head as he laid his tail across his lap. "No, we're not related. But that'd be cool."

"You two look like a cute couple," Nia observed of Jace and Alyss, "A big cat Faunus with a big sword dating a little cat Faunus. It's just so cute to me."

The couple in question smiled and Jace moved his tail to lay across Alyss' lap. "Thanks," Alyss smiled, "I think Vivi and Raine make a cute couple too."

"That, they do." Nia agreed.

There was a squealing noise toward the front of the house and five sets of ears twitched towards it. A few moments later, a man walked in the living room carrying three bags full of groceries.

"Well, I didn't expect five guests and a mangy dog."

"Hey dad," Raine greeted her father, "Am I the mangy dog or is that Gil?"

"Gil."

"Hey, come on! I'm not mangy!" Gilan protested.

The man rolled his eyes, then turned to the others. "I take it you're Raine's team. I'm Halt, her dad and Ranger of Vale."

Introductions from the three teens were passed around, with Halt's eyebrow raising at the mention of Jace's name. Nia suggested they all stay for dinner and Gilan explained why he was down in Vale, and Raine told Halt that she and Vivi were together. He had the same views Nia had about it, and he was happy for her. Halt also told them that he ran into Aulin in the market and he was filled in on their mission from them. After the dinner, Jace, Alyss, and Auron were about to leave and were standing on the porch with Raine and Vivi.

"Hey Raine, do you think you could tell your mom and dad what happened to me? I don't wanna have to keep it from them either." Jace requested of his partner.

"Well, about that…" Raine started quietly, "Dad already knows... I already knew too, but I didn't know specifics until you told us."

"You… You knew? Halt knows? What?" Jace sputtered, confused as he looked at Raine.

"You remember there were Rangers that raided the lab too, right?" Vivi asked and Jace nodded slowly, "Well, Rangers keep a record of everything. It's our job to know things, essentially."

"Raine told me that before."

"Right. Well, this one knows too. I want you to know that I think of you as another person. Faunus, human, whatever you want to call yourself, this one won't think of you as anything less than what you are. To me, you're a fellow cat Faunus."

"So… you both knew about this before I decided to tell anyone?" Jace asked them in a level tone.

"We did." Raine affirmed.

Jace nodded and took his hand from Alyss' to hug Raine. "Thank you then…" He said and let her go, then he turned to hug Vivi, "Thanks for accepting me."

"You've thanked us a lot for that." Raine said.

"And trust me, I appreciate it so much that you two knew before I told you and accepted me anyway." Jace said, stepping away from Vivi and grabbing Alyss' hand again.

"Remember. You're _you_ , no matter what DNA or dust you have in you." Vivi told him.

"Are… we actually gonna go, or are we stayin' the night here?" Auron asked.

"Yeah… we should go," Jace said, "We'll let Aulin know that you guys are staying here for a bit longer."

"Alright. See you guys at the inn." Raine said and the three walked on from the house

* * *

"Did Raine ever come back last night?" The question came from Alyss as she looked at the still-empty bed in the room.

"Nope. She probably wanted to spend the night at home like how you wanted to do," Auron said as he stretched, "But it's weird how she didn't text anyone."

"I'm sure she's alright," Jace said, "Probably got lost in catching up with each other. I know me, Gen, and Alex did after we found that out."

"We shouldn't worry about it," Auron gave a grin, "They're Huntsmen. On top o' that, they're Rangers. It's doubtful anything bad happened."

Just then, the door to the room opened and Raine and Vivi stepped inside. "Hey, sorry we didn't come in last night."

"Catching up?" Jace asked.

"Yeah, basically," Vivi answered, "It's been awhile since this one has seen Halt or Nia."

"And it was great telling them about what happened with those Atlesians," Raine laughed, "Dad and Gil laughed so loud when I told them how Vivi came and saved the day."

"Plus we talked more about how we got together. All the small details." Vivi continued.

"You mean like how you two sat outside and confessed under the moonlight?" Alyss asked, showing a smile.

"Yeah. That," Raine answered and crossed her arms, looking away. She glanced back and flashed a grin, "It's not like I had the luxury of cooking noodles and making a pie in order to just ask her out to the dance."

"Oh, is that how you two started dating?" Vivi asked Jace and Alyss.

"Yeah. And now I know how to make pies." Jace answered.

"You're welcome." Auron said.

"Yeah, yeah. It helped me a lot."

"Me too," Alyss said, "Now we can give each other scritches and not be embarrassed about it."

"And I can give my own kitty scritches too." Raine said, reaching her hand up to demonstrate.

Vivi _purred_ deeply and loudly under the touch. " _Mmm_ this one won't tell you to stop, but she'd rather not be used as a demonstration."

Auron groaned loudly and shook his head. "I'm surrounded by cats."

"You love it." Jace snickered.

"If you had cat ears, you'd understand." Vivi told Auron.

"Hey, can you keep it down? We can hear the purring from all the way in the other room."

"Aulin, that's not saying much since you're right next door." Jace said to the arrival.

"Whatever. It doesn't bug me, but you know Bell can really hear stuff."

"It is adorable but with how loud it is to me…" Bell spoke up behind her, "It does not help with trying to listen to others or when I am praying,"

"Speakin' of that, you headin' to the church, Bell?" Auron asked the quiet girl.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

"Care for some company?" Auron asked, "I've kinda wanted to go to one for awhile. I got a lot to get off my chest."

Bell nodded and gave a smile. "It is alright, Auron. I take it you are not religious?"

"No, I'm really not. Mom an' dad are but they never push it on me. Always said for me to think how I want."

"You don't have to explain it to me. I will not think of you differently."

"Thanks."

"We'll meet up with you guys later then," Jace told the two, "We can all eat at one of the restaurants. And I can go buy my apples."

"And I can buy cherries." Alyss added.

"Gods, you two and your cravings." Aulin rolled her eyes.

Raine looked at her and flashed a grin. "Don't tell me you're not gonna buy yourself some almonds."

"I might…" Aulin admitted.

"I gotta try some oranges too," Auron said and stepped outside with Bell, "See you guys later."

The two Mistralians walked down the stairs and through the main room of the inn until they were outside, meeting the cool breeze of early fall. Auron _did_ have thoughts nagging at him from facing the Geist. It nearly killed him and the others in his old team and he himself didn't come out of it unscathed. It wasn't physical, but it was mental. He never lied when he said it was horrifying, and that had made him think. He had constant nightmares about it, which were aided by the dreamcatcher his mother had bought for him. He needed to keep his mind straight and short, silent prayers nearly every night after he received the dreamcatcher and before he went to bed actually helped him sleep easier.

"You think I'd be forgiven since I've never wanted to be religious before?" Auron asked as he looked toward the bell tower of the church.

"Of course you will," Bell said quickly and confidently, "Oum loves all of us, no matter if you are religious or not. I was raised to believe that and I believe it is true."

"Yeah… Raine told us before that you was raised by the church."

"Yes, I was. Like Jace, I was… I was abandoned as well," Bell said somberly, "I do not know why my mother left me, but I cannot dwell on that. I have to move forward. I pray that Oum has mercy on her soul."

Auron nodded slowly. "That's all you can do, really. Move on an' live your life."

The two arrived at the church and walked inside, seeing it nearly empty save for a priest and a few nuns. When the man noticed them, he gave a warm smile and bowed to them. Auron and Bell stopped in front of him and bowed back.

"Hello, children. What brings a couple such as yourselves by?"

"Oh no, we're not together," Bell told him, "My friend offered to come here with me to pray."

The priest nodded. "Ah, I apologize for the assumption. By the looks of you, you seem to be the students that came here to protect our caravan."

"Yes sir," Auron confirmed, "We'll get 'em there safely."

"Thank you both. And thank you all for protecting this world from the Grimm."

The priest left them alone and after a moment, the two dropped to their knees and put their hands together, praying silently.


	23. Chapter 23: On The Road

**Chapter Twenty Three**

 **On The Road**

The first half of the day went by in a blur as everyone explored the village. It held mostly dark-wooden homes that were usually two stories high. Around midday, the group separated to different things. A few children had stopped and stared-wide eyed at them, asking questions that Bell, Alyss, and Aulin answered cheerfully, but left out most parts about the Grimm. Jace enjoyed showing most of the boys his sword, grinning with every simplified answer to their questions. Later on, Alyss had noticed that one child's arm was in a sling and she asked what happened.

"I… I fell off a wagon…" The little girl answered in embarrassment. She wore a pair of black shorts and a pink tank top. Her brown hair was long and her short bangs were parted evenly and her eyes were a dark red color. Her skin was a rather light shade and she had bright green scales along her arms and a few on her calves.

"What were you doing on a wagon?" Alyss asked, crouching down to her level and giving an encouraging smile.

"Me and my brother and our friends were playing on it and I tripped and fell…"

"Can you let me see it?" Alyss asked softly.

"Umm…"

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"Okay…" The girl said quietly and gingerly took her arm out of the sling.

Alyss gently took hold of it and tilted her head. "Do you know what's wrong with it?"

"Mommy said it got broke and it'll take a couple months to get better."

"Broken?" Alyss parroted, making sure. The girl nodded glumly and Alyss gave her another smile. "I want you to relax, okay?"

"A-alright… What are you doing?" The girl asked as other children flocked around them. Some of them had the same complexion to their skin and some had different color scales on their arms, legs, and faces. And some had strange looking horns on their heads.

Aulin kneeled down and gave her a grin. "Don't worry little one. She can make it all better for you."

"It's true," Jace offered and showed her his right arm, "See? This arm used to look really ugly but she made it look nice again."

"Can you really make it feel better, miss?" The girl asked Alyss.

"If you want me to," Alyss said, "And please just call me Alyss."

"Yeah! Please try!" The girl exclaimed, looking at her arm excitedly, "I wanna go play with my friends again!"

Alyss nodded and she started pulsing her semblance, making her hands and the girl's arm glow purple. The children around them looked in wonder as ' _ooh_ 's and ' _ahh_ 's came from their mouths.

"Do you know where it is broken exactly?" Bell asked her, "She can help better if you can show her."

The girl nodded and pointed to the underside of her forearm. "What is your name, dear?" Bell asked.

"Zarya."

"That is a nice name. My name is Bell. And that is Jace and Aulin." Bell introduced the others.

The girl gasped after a moment and looked down at her arm in wonder. "Wow… It doesn't hurt now!"

"It's still gonna take a little bit for it to be fixed," Jace told her, "It's only the pain that's gone right now, but it's still broke. But Alyss can tell when it's better."

"Excuse me, what's going on?" A woman asked, stepping up behind them. She also had the same skin and eye color that the Zarya had with green scales to her skin over the entirety of the outsides of her arms and the front of her legs. Her hair was the same, only parted more to the right with some behind her right ear, showing a small gold ring in her ear.

"Mommy, look! She's fixing my arm!" Zarya exclaimed, staying as still as she can.

"Fixing it?" The woman parroted.

"Her semblance," Jace explained, "She'll fix her arm up soon so she doesn't have to suffer with it. She helped me when we met when my arm was burned."

"Oh, so you're Huntsmen?" The woman asked them

"In training," Aulin said, raising back to her full height, "We're here for a mission that starts tomorrow. We were just exploring the village and all these kids started asking questions."

"And Alyss noticed your daughter's arm in its sling," Bell continued, "She wanted to help. And she needs concentration."

The woman nodded and went to say something, but she stopped and looked down at her daughter. Jace gave a reassuring smile to her. "It'll be alright, ma'am. Alyss won't hurt her. It'll just take a little bit longer."

It took three more minutes before Zarya's arm stopped glowing. "Alright, it's done." Alyss said and put her hands on her knees. Zarya poked and prodded her arm all over, amazed at the feeling of no pain. She gave a wide, toothy smile as she waved her arm around.

"Mommy! It's all better now! See?"

"I-I see that, Zarya," The woman said, tears in her eyes, "Y-you really healed her?"

"Yeah, her arm isn't broken anymore," Alyss said tiredly as she stood up straight, "Are the medical bills too much?"

"Yes… they… they were. Now we can buy that big toy you want, Zar." The woman told her daughter.

"Really? Thanks mommy!" The girl exclaimed.

"But… I have to repay you," The mother said to Alyss, "You had no obligation to help my daughter…"

"I don't mean to be rude, but that's wrong," Alyss replied, "I'm training to be a Huntress. And with my semblance, I think I _am_ obligated to help in any way I can, no matter…" She yawned and covered her mouth, "Sorry… No matter how tired it makes me because my semblance _does_ make me more tired the more I use it. It's why I want to be a Huntress. So I can help people like your daughter or my boyfriend or anyone else with their injuries."

The woman nodded slowly and gave Alyss a warm hug. "Thank you… M-my name is Maria. Maria Cross."

"I'm Alyss Wystar."

"Do you need any lien or anything?" Maria asked, "I have to-"

"You don't have to give me anything," Alyss interrupted her and crouched down to Zarya's level again, "The only thing I want is for you to have fun and be careful in the future. Can you do that for me, sweetie?"

"Uh-huh!" Zarya agreed quickly, "I'll be super duper careful!"

Alyss nodded. "Then that's the payment."

"Thanks Alyss!" Zarya hugged her tightly, "You're awesome!"

"I'm gonna be the first to agree with you on that." Jace said with a grin.

After a few moments, Maria separated her daughter from everyone and she gave Alyss another hug. "Thank you again."

"You're welcome, Maria," Alyss said, "You guys take care of yourselves."

"We will," Maria said and released Alyss, then she turned to Zarya, "Come on, Zar. Let's go show your father and your brother."

"Okay! Bye Alyss!" Zarya waved goodbye and the two left them.

* * *

"I might head to the church later tonight." Jace told Alyss as the two looked through the market stalls.

"Why didn't you go with Bell and Auron?" Alyss asked.

Jace sighed a bit. "I don't know… I want to do it alone, really. Every once in a while I pray for the ones that died in that lab, and I feel better being alone or if I'm with Gen with that since… since we're the only survivors."

"It's alright, Jace," Alyss pulled his hand up and kissed the top of it, "If you want, I can either wait at the inn or wait outside for you."

"I'd rather you wait outside so we can walk back together. But that's later," Jace smiled and looked around the area, "Let's see what all's for sale."

They walked slowly through the stalls, seeing different things ranging from farming and mining equipment, vegetables, toys, books, fruits, and weapons. The weapon vendor caught sight of Jace and waved him over with a prosthetic hand. He had a large mustache with ends that hung down below his chin and it covered most of his mouth. He was bald, had dark skin, and had bright green eyes and he had dark-blue scales along his shirtless chest and back.

"Hello young man! That's a mighty impressive blade you got!"

"Thanks," Jace replied with a smile, "I made it myself."

"Really now? That's pretty amazing that a young kid like you made something like that."

"It was pretty challenging," Jace told him, "I had the plans drawn out and everything but getting the blade forged and ordering the parts, then putting it together was completely different. Especially with the rifle part."

"Looks like it. Would you be interested in some high-grade whetstones and oil?" The man asked, "I got some in stock."

Jace thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Sure. I'll buy some. I've been running low on oil anyway."

The man nodded and reached behind his stall. He quickly brought out two whetstones and a large bottle of oil. "Here ya go, youngster. Sixty lien."

"I may actually need some oil for mine too." Alyss said thoughtfully.

"You can just use mine if you need it." Jace offered as he brought out the lien to pay for his.

The man already had another bottle out and ready. "Young lady, you helped one of our kids. You'll get some for free."

"News travels fast here. You don't have to give me anything." Alyss protested.

"Nah, I insist. It's just my nature. You got a good heart."

Alyss gave a smile and nodded. "Thank you then, sir."

"Aw, just call me Steele. It's my name and what I work with all day."

"Oh, you make these weapons?" Jace asked, looking around at the different swords, knives, axes, and hammers.

"Yep," Steele nodded, "I usually do maintenance on weapons if their owners need to take care of something else. I take custom orders too. Helped a lot of these Huntsmen with their weapons."

"I'm sure that gets you good business with what our teammate told us," Jace said, then grew curious, "If you don't mind… I've seen a lot of people with scales or horns, like the girl that Alyss helped and the kids that were around us. A lot of adults have prosthetics too..."

"Well, we're all dragon Faunus," Steele answered him, "We're all from a province in the deserts called Liore. Way southwest of Vacuo. I'm from the city itself. It… It was destroyed by Grimm and raiding bandits five years ago. It's how this happened..." He said as he looked down at his prothetic right hand, "We got here and a girl took care of all of us. Quick and cheap after she heard what happened."

"Oh, I heard about that…" Alyss said lowly, "The dragon Faunus were nomads for awhile after that."

"What were left of us…" Steele sighed, "It was horrible... There weren't a lot of us to begin with, really. Only maybe twenty, thirty thousand and we all lived in and around Liore in a few smaller towns and villages. Then after that… maybe five or six hundred… It was against the city and all the outlying towns and villages. There wasn't a lot of us left and most went closer to Vacuo while some migrated toward Vale and out of the deserts, then we scattered around the villages. I've heard some of our people are discriminated against in some places worse than any other Faunus, and in other places they live happily. Here, we're treated every bit as equals as others."

"I never met any dragon Faunus before…" Jace said, "I've never even seen any before. To be honest... I kinda thought you all weren't real until I saw the news of what happened to Liore. It's nice to finally meet some."

Steele gave a nod and a small smile. "Thank you. We're a dying breed, sadly. But we're surviving."

"Th-that's so sad…" Alyss said, fighting back tears, "I-I don't want to think of any race or species or subrace of people dying out… That's a h-horrible thing… How could people do that to others…"

"Bandits are scum…" Steele said, "They caused us to feel fear and that's what brought the Grimm... It brought a Sand Leviathan... Then they came in for the scraps…"

"If I had my way, bandits would be hunted down for the hell they cause." Jace sighed and shook his head.

"Look, what's done is done…" Steele told both of them, "We can't bring our... I guess species or subrace _would_ be words for us. We can't go back to where it was before. Not for a long time. Maybe never. All we can do is look ahead."

"You're doing that pretty well. I…" Jace started and sighed again, "I hope you guys can prosper."

"Me too, kid."

Jace and Alyss left the stall and walked slowly towards a building to stop. Jace leaned against the wall of it and sighed. "They've had it hard."

"Yeah… they have…" Alyss agreed sadly.

"It's bullshit that people give them hell for being rare types of Faunus." Jace growled.

"They have it worse than normal Faunus… There's hundreds of thousands of us but the dragons… Only afew hundred left…" Alyss couldn't keep the tears back any longer and she started crying, "I-I h-hate the thought of people being hurt like that…"

Jace set his bag down and wrapped her in a hug. "Me too, Kitten. They don't deserve it. I was about to tell him that I know what it's like being a survivor, but… I'm just human-turned-Faunus and they're only a small number of their own type of Faunus. That's way different than me."

"It _is_ different… But there's no way you can actually understand each other's pain," Alyss mumbled into his shoulder, "It's just not possible."

"Yeah… I wouldn't want to wish what I've went through to happen to anyone else and I'm sure they don't want any other race to be wiped out… It's just hell."

After a few moments, they continued on through the stalls. Jace stopped at one selling books while Alyss went to look at drinks. Jace saw one book called _Soldiers of the Wasteland_ that looked rather interesting, so he decided to buy it. He tilted his head as he saw an old tome with faded out words on the front. The only thing he could understand was the word ' _dust_ '. He took it and opened it up, then went wide-eyed at what he saw. It talked about dust infusions and other different aspects of it all. Jace decided to pay the twenty lien for it and the other book and he went to find Alyss.

When he saw her, she was holding a drink in her hands with a little smile on her face. "You don't look tired or as sad as you were. What's up?"

"Try this." Alyss said and held the drink out to him.

"Is this… coffee?" Jace asked and she nodded. Jace shrugged and lifted the cup up to his mouth and took a short drink. "This is amazing!" He exclaimed, "Are there cherries mixed in this?"

"There are," The woman running the stand answered, "My specialty, at least that's what I like to think."

"How do you do it?" Jace asked her, "It can't be in the coffee beans, can it?"

"Oh no, it has nothing to do with the beans. I take cherries and squash them to get the juices, then I mix that in the coffee when it's made. Like how people mix honey or sugar into their drinks. Simple, right?"

"Wow, this is really good," Jace said and handed the cup back to Alyss, "I'll take a cup."

The woman nodded. "Okay. That'll be five lien. I also have it made in cans if you're interested."

* * *

The rest of the day was spent with them all buying different things. Jace and Alyss had bought apples and cherries respectively, along with their other purchases. Auron had bought an orange and tried it, which led him to buy an entire sack of them. Aulin bought a container of almonds. And Inuvali and Alex bought a few whetstones for their very similar weapons. After their time exploring the village, they met up at a small restaurant and hung out there for a bit, eating and chatting with each other.

"You already made a bit of a name for yourself here, Alyss," Raine observed, "I heard that a cat Faunus with pretty eyes used magic to heal a little girl's arm."

"News really does travel fast," Jace remarked, "And yes, your eyes are very pretty." He told his girlfriend.

"I just did what I said I was gonna do," Alyss said, "I said I was gonna help whoever I can with my semblance and I'm trying."

"She got a few free things too," Jace said with a grin, "She got a big bottle of oil for her glaive and some cherry coffee for helping her out."

"Which is really amazing," Alyss said, "You realy need to try to make it, Jace."

"Have you practiced with your semblance, Bell?" Auron asked the young priestess as he peeled an orange with his knife.

Bell nodded. "I have. It is a bit difficult still, but I can transfer my aura to another person to replenish theirs."

"That's good," Alyss commended her with a smile, "Hmm… Maybe you can keep everyone from getting injuries if they get low on aura and I can help them if they _do_ get hurt and you can make other recoveries faster."

"That'll be good for us," Vivi said, "The wagon drivers can defend themselves. Their auras are unlocked and they have weapons to use. They'll only fight if it's absolutely necessary."

"So I will be able to allow Alyss to save her semblance in case she is needed," Bell gave a smile, "I hope it will not come to that, though."

"I got a question..." Aulin said, directing her attention to Vivi, "I've heard this saying before. One riot, one Ranger. Why exactly are there two Rangers for this mission?"

"There have been reports of an Armaddon in the area between Calm and Pyne," Vivi answered her, "Not much is known about them, so Gilan and I took decided to take this mission."

"You think we'll run into it?" Auron asked, offering orange slices to anyone that wanted one, which Inuvali and Vivi took.

"If we keep our mood up, we shouldn't see it," Vivi said and plopped the slice into her mouth, chewing and sucking on it before she swallowed, "This one is with Raine for a few weeks at least, so she will stay happy."

"Same." Raine grinned.

* * *

The next morning came and everyone was at the gates of the village. Bowing, Lawrence, and Lucio were there to see them off and the village priest was there to give a short prayer for them to make it to Pyne safely.

"So, is everyone ready?" Gilan asked as he hooked his bow onto the saddle of the horse he would ride.

"Should we have positions mapped out for everyone?" Jace asked, "Because I have an idea."

"Let's hear it."

"Okay..." Jace gathered his breath, "We should have Raine in front so she can see ahead of us with her semblance in case something shows up. Then we have Inu and Bell in the back because Bell's ears are as good as a Faunus' and Inu has higher hearing ability and smell than us cat Faunus. They can listen in case anything sneaks around behind us. Aulin can be back there with them. Me and Alyss can be in middle. Mine and Alyss' hearing can pick up things from the sides and we can move up or back if we're needed. Then Alex and Auron in front to keep an eye on anything that might be closer than what Raine sees with her semblance," Jace took a deep breath after explaining the plan and he grew a bit nervous, "How's that?"

"That sounds like a pretty solid plan," Vivi commended him, "There's enough space in the back of the wagons for a person or two to sit, along with the spot next to the driver. I'll be between the front and middle on a horse and Gilan will do the same between middle and back."

"Good thinking, Jace," Gilan said, "You sure this isn't your first mission?"

Jace nodded and rubbed the back of his neck at the praise. "Yeah… it's my first. I just went by what everyone would be good at with what they have."

"It sounds like you three are in good hands," Bowing said to the wagon drivers, "Trust in them."

"We will, Bowing. They're Huntsmen." One of them said, a tall, burly man with a thick beard and hazel eyes.

"Try to keep your own fruits separated from the ones we're selling," Lucio said to them, chuckling a bit, "I don't think any of us want a mix up."

"We'll keep them separated. I don't wanna lose my apples." Jace replied.

"I think we should leave you to it, then," Lawrence said, "Everyone stay safe."

The three split from them and Gilan turned to everyone. "Alright. Braxton, Eli, Jess, go ahead and make sure the horses are ready. Everyone else, get to the positions Jace said. Keep your belongings and your own camping gear hooked on the sides of the middle wagon so they won't get mixed up."

The students quickly hooked their bags to either side of the wagon and Jace couldn't help but notice the claymore on the left side of it. It was nearly as long as _Legacy_ but it had a far thinner blade, only five inches in width adorned with whirling designs of darkened steel. Jace's ears twitched a bit and he turned around to see one of the drivers. He stood at six feet and five inches and wore a pair of black cargo shorts and a tank top with a pair of ankle-high boots. He wore an easy-going smile and had blonde hair, parted evenly in the front and in a ponytail in the back.

"Got an eye for two-handers?"

"How can you guess?" Jace grinned and finished fixing his harness to the wagon for his sword.

"I had a hunch. I'm Eli Falkner. And that's my sword, _Coleus_."

"Looks pretty good. If it wasn't for the big gun in mine, it probably would've been a lot smaller."

"I don't have a doubt about it," Eli laughed, "Anyway, thanks for coming to help us out."

Jace gave a sheepish grin. "You can thank your apples for that, really."

"I guess the pull of them has you?" Eli grinned.

"Just like the cherries have me." Alyss said at Jace's side as she strapped her gear to the wagon.

"Makes sense. Our fruits are the best-"

"Eli! You can make small talk on the road! Get your shit ready!"

"Right away, Brax!" Eli called back to the huge bear of a man.

"Sorry. Gotta get the horses ready or ol' Braxton is gonna chew my head off." Eli told the two and went to take care of it.

Jace turned to Alyss and grinned, "I think things'll go well."

Alyss nodded in agreement. "Me too. We should be about ready to go."

"Just so you know names," Raine spoke up next to them, "The big guy is Braxton Timber. The girl is Jess Illinulta. You'll get to know them more soon."

"Now we don't have to ask anyone their names," Jace said, "Hopefully we get there no problem."

"You know that's unlikely with Grimm," Raine sighed, "It's a really good seating position you thought of. That'll help keep them away from the front at least."

"Who knew you had brains with that big sword you carry around." Auron remarked from the other side of the wagon.

"I had enough sense to ask you for help with cooking, didn't I?" Jace replied.

"Oh, you can cook too?" The grass-green haired girl and up behind him holding a large knapsack, wearing a grin and a bit of humor shined in her purple eyes.

Auron sighed half-heartedly. "Yeah, I can. I can help when we stop for food. Dad an' my uncle taught me how I cook on a fire, so yeah."

"I can too. Part of Ranger training." Raine said.

"Oh good. That'll take some work off my back. I heard that priest girl can cook a bit too. We'll get it done easy." Jess said and walked on to her wagon.

When she was out of earshot, Auron shook his head and let out a sigh. "You an' your big mouth, Jace."

"Hey, look at it this way," Raine started, "You can teach them all how to cook and then your workload will go down."

"Good point, but I'd have to play teacher."

"There's always when we're back at Beacon," Jace offered, "Besides, I'm sure it's not much different from an oven. Just need to be careful of the fire."

"There's the pots an' shit to deal with, though," Auron said, "I guess I can train you. You know how to fix noodles well enough."

"He really does." Alyss agreed.

"Alright, come on and finish up!" Gilan called to everyone, "Let's get on the road!"

* * *

The sounds of hooves clomping through the dirt and on stray stones provided the only sound for a while after the caravan departed Calm. Everyone sat where Jace suggested and had their weapons at their sides in case they were ambushed by Grimm. Other than that constant worry, things were peaceful.

"So, you two are together?" Eli asked Jace and Alyss, who were both sitting in the back of the cart.

"Yeah, since a couple weeks ago." Jace answered.

"I shoulda figured since no one's sitting next to me." Eli said to the fact the seat was empty next to him.

"Lonely?" Alyss asked playfully.

"More or less. I wish there was no such thing as a Grimm so my girlfriend can come with me," Eli said, giving a smile that they couldn't see, "But when I come back to see her smile and have her in my arms, that makes up for it all."

"I guess… it makes you appreciate your time with her more, right?" Alyss asked.

"It does. We both know how dangerous it is for me doing this so we spend as much time as we can together. I can bet it'll be the same, if not moreso for you two since you're both Huntsmen."

"Between that and classwork, training, and hanging out with our friends..." Jace said and put his arm around Alyss' shoulders, "I wanna spend all my time with her."

Eli gave a short laugh. "It's the early days of your relationship isn't it? Then just enjoy that you're together."

"I think we already planned on that," Jace laughed, "While I have the time, I'm gonna try reading." He reached over the side of the cart and reached into his bag, then pulled out one of the books he bought.

"What did you get, anyway?" Alyss asked him.

"Just some medieval fantasy-type thing and something about dust," Jace answered her, "I'm just gonna read the fantasy one for now."

"Have fun with that. I'm gonna sit next to Eli and talk to him for a bit." Alyss said and stood up to step over the front seat.

* * *

"If it wasn't for Raine being on this mission, I wouldn't have trusted you all." Braxton said bluntly, striking up some type of conversation with Alex and Auron.

"'Cause we're all just kids?" Auron asked, more of a statement.

"Yeah. This is the lien we live on and I didn't want to put it in the hands of some trainees. I don't know anything about what the rest of you can do, but I know how skilled Raine is." Braxton said with a shrug.

"Makes sense to me," Alex said, "I'm not gonna say things'll go smoothly just because we're here. And going to Beacon is the smoothest my life has gone since I met my brother there."

"You got my word that we're gonna do what we can to protect it all," Auron told Braxton, "It's experience an' it's our lien too."

Braxton gave a stiff nod from hearing the conviction in the words and loosened his grip on the reigns. "I'm sure we'll get there with little trouble. It's just my old mind worrying."

"Hold up," Raine said suddenly, pulling up her rifle to the path ahead, "Two people. One's tall and wearing some kind of armor and the other is short and has on a long red coat. He's blonde. I don't see any weapons on them and they look like they're just talking."

"Should we be ready?" Braxton asked, slowing the horses down and reaching for the hilt of his axe.

"Hmm… No, it'll be okay," Raine assured him, lowering her rifle, "Nothing in their movements say that they'd attack us."

"Alright then." Braxton said and let go of his weapon, then he sped the horses back up.

"What's going on?" Vivi asked, bringing her horse up next to Raine.

"Two people coming down the road," Raine answered her, "They don't look like bandits. We should be fine."

Vivi nodded and gave a smile. "I trust you, Little Fox." She said and fell back to her position.

After a few minutes, the two waved at them and they waved back at them. Braxton pulled the wagon to a halt and flexed his fingers from the grip on the reigns. The smaller person looked younger than them by a couple of years at least, his blonde was hair parted in the middle and bound in a braid in the back.

"Hey there. Heading to Pyne?" The small one asked.

"We are. Carrying fruits to the merchants there." Braxton answered as the other wagons came to a stop.

"You shouldn't have to worry about Grimm for awhile," The one in the armor asked, sounding much younger than his companion, "We ran into some earlier and beat them."

"That's good to know," Vivi said as she brought her horse around to the front, "Are you heading to Calm?"

"Yeah. We're on our way to see our friend." The short one answered.

"Be careful, then," Vivi told them, "We need to get these fruits to Pyne. Safe travels."

"Safe travels to you too, miss." The armored one said and they went the caravan started moving again.

"Wonder what their story is," Auron said, glancing back to the two walking on past the middle wagon, waving at those there, "The short one couldn't be more than fourteen or fifteen an' the other one sounded younger. They took care of a group o' Grimm alone?"

"Yeah, I've never heard of a kid that young fighting a group of Grimm," Braxton said, "But they can fight if they need to. That's all that matters. If it's even true that they fought any Grimm."

"Whatever it is, they're skilled enough to travel the roads alone," Vivi said, turning her horse back around, "That's pretty amazing, if not stupid in this world."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: Shameless FMA reference. I'm not denying it.**

 **So yeah, I had other names for the farmer and head merchant. Lawrence and Lucio were just placeholder names until I came up with something else for them. I did and I changed them, but then when I posted the last chapter it got reverted back to those names for some reason and by the time I saw, I forgot the new names! Another thing that makes me feel like an idiot, hooray!**

 **See you next chapter, and I hope you all have a better day than me**!


	24. Chapter 24: Way to Fall

**Chapter Twenty Four**

 **Way To Fall**

"What's Pyne like?" Jace asked the group around the campfire a week into their travels. It had been smooth sailing so far with occasional small groups of Grimm trying to get an easy meal at their expense. It was usually only two to five, which were easily taken care of by Raine if they came from the front and Bell and Inuvali when they came from behind.

"It's pretty amazing," Jess said, "There's some places on the ground like clothes and repair shops and general stores. But all the houses for people are in the trees. The main hospital is in the biggest tree there."

"Seriously?" Aulin asked, "A town that's mostly treehouses?"

"Yeah. In that area, there are huge trees that people can use. Some of them are so big that stores and actual houses are inside of them!" Jess explained, unable to keep the wonder from her voice, "It's so cool and amazing! They use earth dust and other stuff that keeps the trees from dying and it keeps them all so strong that they can use!"

"Wow…" Jace gave a grin, "I'm really glad we accepted the mission."

"Same here," Alyss agreed, "I can't wait until we get there."

"I haven't been there myself," Raine said, "I've been wanting to go."

"I have as well. It sounds like a beautiful village." Bell said.

"You realize you're not here as tourists, right?" Braxton growled toward them, sending the group into an uncomfortable silence.

"Brax, calm down," Eli said to the burly man, "They're kids. They have a right to be excited to go somewhere."

"How can I calm down when it seems like most of them only want to help us just to see a new place?"

"That's bullshit," Jace spoke up, his voice louder than normal, "Is it wrong for us to want to see a new place as a bonus for helping people? That's what it is. The new place is just a _bonus_. The lien is just a _bonus_. We came for a mission to help people and make ourselves better to help more people. It's what Huntsmen do, we help people and anything else is a damn bonus."

"Then why don't you act serious about it? Why are you acting like it doesn't matter as long as you see what Pyne looks like!?" Braxton yelled at him.

"Because-" Jace was interrupted by a howl in the trees. The horses started moving around restlessly and Jess quickly moved to calm them all down.

Jace grabbed _Legacy_ off the ground and turned to the fire. "Put it out, now!"

"What for?" Eli asked, "That's our only light source!"

"Because the moon's out an' it's bright," Auron said swiftly as he drew _Smoke & Preacher_ from their holsters, "You put the fire out an' we'll see just fine. Keep it goin' it'll keep us from lookin' all around."

"And if it stays, the Faunus in the group will be hindered by the light." Inuvali added, taking _Orochi_ from its sheath and extending it to its full length.

"You guys stay near the horses and protect them," Aulin told the wagon drivers, "Alyss, Bell, stay with them. We might need you."

"Be careful," Gilan warned them, "I know Vivi yold you there have been reports of an Armaddon in the area. If it shows up, leave it to us. Other than that, it should just be Beowulves or a few Ursai."

"Got it!" Everyone said and stood ready as rustling leaves became louder and louder.

A Beowulf lunged from the trees in front of Jace and he blasted it down with a shot from _Legacy_. More came from the trees and everyone with a ranged weapon opened fire, bringing down the Grimm easily until Ursai showed up to take the brunt of the blasts. Jace dodged a swipe by one and quickly sent _Legacy_ into its arm and neck, killing it as Alex sliced out at the Beowulf that dove at him from behind.

"Talk about bonding time…" Alex said, clutching the hilt of his katana, _Celosia_ , tightly, "Nothing says brotherly bonding like fighting against Grimm under the moonlight."

"Yeah…" Jace went to slice at another Beowulf and a muzzle flash blinded his eyes, making him miss his target. The Grimm struck him in the gut with its claws and Jace dug his boots to the ground.

 _"Damn it…"_

He swung his sword just as another gunshot fired, blinding him and causing him to miss and be struck again. He quickly sent _Legacy_ down into the Grimm's back and he spun and struck down another that went past him for Alex. He was blinded by another muzzle flash and a Beowulf smacked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Alex stepped in and kicked out with _Celosia_ in his boot's heel as Inuvali sliced across hard with _Orochi_ , cutting multiple heads from Beowulves as Jace got up.

He growled in annoyance and shook his head. "Stop shooting! I can't see with all the muzzle flashes!" He called to everyone.

"Yeah! I'm having that problem too!" Raine called back.

"Shit… Didn't think about that," Aulin shook her head and switched out the vial in the handle of _Elementia_ to ice dust, "Looks like my fire attacks are out of the question." She said and summoned her ice blade to her right hand. She sent out shards of ice from cracking her whip and they exploded into ice flowers on the Grimm, slowing them down.

"Alright! Looks like it's up close an' personal!" Auron exclaimed and whipped a Beowulf's maw shut with his right revolver. He quickly pulled _Last Call_ from his back and sent it straight down into the Grimm's skull.

Everyone either stopped or limited their gunshots, giving the Faunus in the group a better time with fighting. Jace was now able to see and either block or dodge claws that were sent his way, and he was able to retaliate and slice down the Grimm that came at him. Raine brought _Amaranth_ from her back and started loosing arrows into their chests, and when she was down to her last arrow, she grabbed it and stabbed up into their jaws and through their mouths. When she was free, she called her arrows back to her with her aura and returned to firing them back at the Grimm.

Alyss stayed near the horses as she was told and she easily sliced off the appendages from the Beowulves, then Bell sent ice shards from _Solaria_ to finish them off. Inuvali sent _Orochi_ at the Grimm in blindingly fast motions, quickly slicing down anything that came at him. He sensed something behind him and turned around as he dropped to a knee, slashing the Creep in half before it touched him. A Beowulf came at his side and Aulin sent ice dust through _Elementia_ , forming a blade as it wrapped around the Grimm's neck. She pulled hard and the ice cut through its neck and severed the head, then she sent the whip to slice at a Creep that broke off toward the wagons.

The fighting died down after awhile and Raine sent an arrow into the skull of the last Grimm. They each grouped back up and looked around warily, ready for if the Grimm weren't done yet.

"Damn it… that was my fault," Braxton muttered, "If I wasn't so damn concerned-"

"Don't blame yourself," Jace interrupted him, rolling his shoulders, "No one could've known Grimm would attack us."

"But if I wasn't so distrustful of you, they probably wouldn't have noticed."

"Your old, right?" Auron asked him, "You can't help but worry."

"Right… Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Raine told him, "Even though we joke around and we want to see Pyne, we want to get you there safely so you can get the lien you need." Her ears twitched heavily at something, but she couldn't pinpoint what.

Braxton nodded and bowed his head to them. "You're good kids. I know we're-"

"Jace! Look out!" Gilan yelled. Alex was the first to react as he started charging toward Jace.

"What-!" Jace felt a searing pain in his left shoulder as the last of his aura was depleted and he fell forward, his face hitting the ground hard and knocking him out.

"A Stalker!? What the hell is it doing in Vale!?" Gilan yelled as Alex sunk his blade into its skull. Stalkers were thin, gangly creatures with long limbs. It's front two limbs had long, serrated and jagged blades of bone for attacking and it didn't have any plating to protect it. They never needed it as they usually snuck up on their prey, silently attacking them from shadows. Alex took his blade from the Stalker's head and he turned around quickly when he heard a scream from Alyss.

"Jace!"

Everyone looked to Jace and the all went wide-eyed in shock. His left arm was gone, laying on the ground away from him as what little aura came back worked to try to close the wound on his shoulder, but blood was still coming from it. Everyone was so shocked that it happened so quickly and easily.

Vivi shook her head and she rushed forward to Jace's side to inspect the damage. She looked at his shoulder and tried to think of what could be done to help him. They couldn't take Jace and the arm back to Calm where they were now. The bouncing of a horse might do more damage than anything. They couldn't preserve the arm in ice as they had none, and ice dust would only last so long. They would try, but it was far from a sure thing. Plus, there was the fact that the Stalker's bone blades had torn the skin and muscle rather than give a clean slice, which took the chance of his arm being reattached down to nearly nothing. The only thing to do was let it take it's course.

"Alyss, go and close the wound! Bell, restore his aura!" Gilan called to them both as he ran to Jace.

Alyss blinked tears from her eyes as she rushed forward, dropping to her knees at Jace's side. "Oh Jace, no! Please be okay!" She screamed and pulsed her semblance as hard as she could. Bell was at his other side and began transferring her aura to help as much as she could.

After a few moments, Alyss fainted and fell limply to the side. She was in shock, she was tired, she was scared, and she was crying. That, coupled with pushing so hard with her semblance so soon, made her pass out from everything.

"Oh fuck…" Braxton cursed under his breath and went to grab a large bundle of bandages from his wagon. He rushed over to Vivi and handed them to her as Auron carried Alyss to a wagon.

"It's my damn fault…" Braxton growled at himself. Everyone could only watch helplessly as Gilan and Vivi worked to bandage Jace's shoulder.

"It's my fault…"

* * *

Jace opened his eyes up and the sun blinded them. He raised his right arm to guard against the sun and he groaned, drawing the attention of the two in the wagon with him.

"You're awake!" Alyss said from beside Eli, rushing back to sit at his right side.

"Y-yeah… G'morning, Pretty Kitty." Jace gave a weak smile.

"M-morning, sweetie…" Alyss said with tears in her eyes.

"You might want to get it out of the way." Eli suggested softly.

"Get wha' out of the way?" Jace asked groggily, "Did we lose some fruit? Are you okay, Aly?"

Alyss shook her head and she choked up as she started crying. "I-I'm fine. J-Jace… Sweetie… Y-you… You lost your arm…"

Jace looked at her in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean? My arm's right here…" He raised his right arm again, "An' here's my… m-my…" He tried moving his left arm, but nothing happened. He looked down and to the left in confusion, trying to find out what was wrong. There was nothing.

Pain started shooting through Jace's nerves and the sight of it made him scream, his eyes wide enough to nearly pop out of their sockets. "A-Alyss! Where is it!? Wh-where's my arm!?"

The wagon came to a stop and Alyss leaned over to hug him tightly. "Jace, c-calm down. _Shhhhh_ … Just calm down, please," She pleaded with him. He gritted his teeth and he let out another scream at the pain and fear, "It'll be okay..." She said, her ears flattening from the scream.

Alyss' lips quivered as she pulsed her semblance through her arms, moving her hand to his shoulder, and started to try to soothe the pain he was feeling. After a few moments, the screams turned into cries, then that turned into sobs, then to whimpers, then Jace passed out. Alyss cried and let her semblance die down as she kept her hold on him.

"Gods, Jace… I'm so sorry…"

Gilan's horse trotted up next to the wagon and he gazed in sadly. "I guess he's out again?"

Alyss nodded and took a shuddering breath. "Wh-why couldn't y-you guys detect it...?"

Gilan sighed. "It was a Stalker. We've always had trouble with tracking and detecting them because of how they are. They have some cloaking ability that hides them from sight most of the time. It's... where the Rangers got the idea for our cloaks from. I'm sorry, Alyss. If we would've known that Stalkers were here, we would've been better prepared."

"I believe you..." Alyss mumbled, "Wh-what's gonna happen to him now?"

Gilan sighed once more, shaking his head. "We're gonna push towards Pyne as hard as we can and try to get him some help. If we can get his arm there, then it might be able to be saved. It's a huge _might_ , though. That's very doubtful with how it was cut. Bell's back with the ice dust and she's doing her best, then we'll all take turns with it. If that doesn't work and if he can… he can maybe switch styles and use a longsword and rework his balance. At the worst… he might have to drop out."

"Drop out? Why not get a prosthetic for him?" Alyss asked.

"Because the ones for Huntsmen are extremely expensive," Gilan explained sadly, "It takes a lot more materials for them and I don't know if he can afford it…"

"But there has to be something!" Alyss yelled, "There needs to be a way he can stay! There has to be!"

"If I can help it, he's not dropping out of anything."

Gilan and Alyss turned to see Braxton standing near the wagon. "What can you do?" Alyss asked him hopefully.

"Me? I can't do a damn thing," Braxton admitted, "But I sent word with the other Ranger to get my daughter. She's a prodigy with prosthetics. Helped every person that ever came into town that needed it, like the dragon Faunus. She's gonna come to Pyne and she's gonna help. I owe it to him."

"Why do you owe him?" Gilan asked.

"Because it's my damn fault he lost his arm..." Braxton sighed, "If it wasn't for me not trusting all of you, then the Grimm wouldn't have been drawn to us. I brought the mood down and they came running… It's my fault…"

"No one could've known… It's what Jace said." Alyss said.

Braxton shook his head. "It's how I feel and it's how I'm always gonna feel now. No matter who says what, what I say won't change. I may have ruined his life… and I want to try to help how I can."

He walked back to his wagon and Gilan went forward to get them moving again. Eli took a shuddering breath and looked down. "Alyss… promise me something…"

"What is it?"

"Stay by his side. Don't leave him when he needs you. Please just cherish every moment you have with him from today to the future. He's gonna need you."

Alyss nodded and ran her fingers through Jace's hair. "I promise… I will never leave him…"

* * *

"This went south fast…" Auron muttered at the campfire that night as he glanced back at Alyss and Jace, "Our first mission an' we fuck up."

"You didn't mess up at all," Gilan told him, "It happened too fast for anyone of us to do anything. I'm sorry."

"Yeah… Too fast for anyone…"

"Like I told Alyss..." Gilan said, hearing Auron's tone, "If we would've known there were Stalkers, we would have warned you and we would've been prepared."

Auron nodded. "I don't really have a doubt about that. It's just that... God damn, I don't know."

"How are you doing, Aly?" Bell asked Alyss, hopping up to sit next to Alyss in the wagon Jace was laying in.

"I dunno..." Alyss said sadly.

"I am sure it will be okay," Bell told her, pulling her in for a hug, "Have faith. This is not the worst Jace has been through. It will be diffucult when he wakes up, but you need to be strong for him."

"I'm scared he's gonna have to drop out..." Alyss cried, hugging Bell tightly.

"I highly doubt that," Bell replied, "I believe he could swing _Legacy_ with one hand if he wished to. He could replace the blades for ones that have gravity dust in them and he could use it as Auron uses Last Call. From my time knowing him and learning what he has been through, he will not let this deter him from his goal of being a living legacy. Do not lose heart. He _will_ get better."

'I-I really hope you're right."

Inuvali's ears twitched and he stood from his spot near the fire, then he went over to the road. He looked down the way they came and saw headlights coming closer and he turned to the others. "I think Vivi is back." He told them all.

Gilan jumped up and stood next to the road as Braxton walked toward Auron. "If he can hang on, I'll make damn sure he stays at Beacon."

"How in the hell are you gonna do that?" Auron asked him, a bit of venom in his words for the man.

"I told Alyss that my daughter is a prodigy with prosthetics. When I tell her what happened, she'll do what she can to help if they can't get his arm reattached... I'm sorry..."

The ambulance stopped next to the campsite and a couple of medics stepped out. "Where is he?" The driver asked.

"Right over there. Come on." Gilan said and led them to Jace.

A truck towing a large camper trailer parked behind the ambulance and a girl jumped out of it. She had long cyan-colored hair and blue eyes, piercings in both her ears, and she wore a pair of black jeans and black jacket over a blue shirt. She was five feet and eight inches tall. Soon, Vivi arrived on a tired horse. She walked it over to the other horses and jumped off, working to take the saddle off to give it a long break. The girl from the truck immediately went to her father and he gave her the rundown of the situation.

"...Oh… Okay. I'll follow the ambulance to Pyne and I'll get everything set up with him if it comes to it. You can count on me, dad."

Braxton nodded and hugged his daughter. "It's my fault, Hayley. My mood caused the Grimm to show up-"

"Dad, stop. You can't blame yourself for every bad thing that happens." Hayley told him.

"I can't help it. Just help the boy out."

"I will."

Gilan watched the medics put Jace in the back of the ambulance with his severed arm, which was wrapped in heavy cloth, and Vivi walked up to them. "What happens now?"

"We're gonna finish the mission, that's what!" Alyss spoke up in determination, "Jace wouldn't want us to just abandon it and go with him. As much as I want to stay with him, I want to be here to help if someone's hurt."

"No," Raine said as she and Auron came up to them, "You go with him and we'll stay."

"When he wakes up, he's gonna need you more than anything, Alyss," Auron told her, "You might've just got together a little under a month ago, but you said you got a connection with 'im. You gotta be by his side. You gotta be the comfortin' kitty cat you was when he told us about what he went through."

"But…" Alyss sighed, "I can't just leave you guys here!"

"Alyss..." Eli said, looking directly into her emerald and sapphire eyes, "What did you promise me?"

Alyss looked down to the ground. "B-but..."

"Alyss… they're right," Vivi said, "Your mind isn't going to be straight like we need it. You might get hurt if you stay."

Alyss' shoulders slumped heavily. "B-but-"

"Alyss, as the chaperone for your team, I'm ordering you to go with Jace," Vivi said in a stern but soft voice, "He _will_ need you more than any of us. We'll be alright."

"We will be okay, Aly," Bell said, with SLVR standing by them, "You must have faith. And remember what I said." She said and hugged Alyss

"He's my brother and I know he's gonna need you there more than me and probably even Genesis or dad," Alex told her, "We're gonna finish this for Jace and I'm putting all my pay to help with the prosthetic."

"We are too." Aulin and the others said.

"That won't be needed," Hayley said as she stepped up beside of them. The ambulance sped down the road toward Pyne and they all watched, "This is gonna be on the house. My dad blames himself for it and he won't hear anything different. All my tools and the parts are in my office there. I'll get it done pretty soon after we get there."

Alyss nodded after a few moments of silence and she moved to go to the carts, but Aulin stopped her. "Hey, seein' the smile of such a pretty girl is gonna do wonders for him. Work on that."

"Thanks, Aulin." Alyss said and she went to collect her things. She grabbed her and Jace's bags of clothes from the side of the wagon and she went toward the truck. Hayley followed after her and they both entered it. The mechanic started the vehicle and drove off down the road after the ambulance.

"It's gonna be alright." Hayley assured Alyss.

"H-how… How old even are you?" Alyss asked quietly.

"Fifteen. I turn sixteen in a few months."

"That young and you're driving to another village like this?" Alyss asked in surprise, "You look and act so much older though..."

"Yeah. That doesn't matter though. If it's needed, your boyfriend is gonna get the best I can give. And you wanna know something else? He's still gonna be able to feel and produce heat from that arm."

"You can let him feel too? How?"

"Everyone in Calm says I'm a prodigy. I've been working with prosthesis since I was a kid after my friend lost his arm and his leg. He came by for maintenance and told me him and his brother passed you guys on the road. After awhile, I just grew with my skill and got better, then I worked with artificial nerves. He has feeling in his arm and leg now and I swear Jace is gonna get the same thing. It's my way of helping the world since I'm not a Huntress."

"You really want to help a complete stranger like that?" Alyss asked, smiling a bit at the mechanic.

"I do. Just like you guys, I'm just doing my job."

"If that's the case… then could you take it a step further?" Alyss asked.

"Like how?"

"Well… I guess it wouldn't be giving more… It's just something he'll need…"

"Oh, I figured you'd say you want it made out of gold or have diamond plating," Hayley gave a small laugh and shook her head, "Sorry. No time for jokes, I know…"

"No, it's alright… Have to lighten the mood some way…"

Hayley nodded and she picked up the pace in the truck. "What was it Jace will need?"

"He has a semblance where his muscles grow. He gets bigger and if he needs it… the prosthetic needs to be able to grow with him. And shrink back when he deactivates it…"

"Hmm…" Hayley thought on it for a few moments and nodded, "Leave it to me. When I get the measurements I need, I'll need maybe half a day for the plans and… a week to build the arm. Three days if I pull some all-nighters."

Alyss nodded and gave a shuddering sigh. "Th-thank you for wanting to help…"

"Don't mention it. Get some sleep. I'm sure you need it."

* * *

The next morning, the remaining group at the wagons moved out earlier than usual at seven in the morning. Alex and Aulin moved to the center wagon and everyone else stayed where Jace had told them before. Braxton was silent and he looked straight ahead, still blaming himself for what happened. Eli had a constant frown on his face as he thought about what the young couple was about to go through. Everyone was mostly silent, hoping that Jace had arrived safely in Pyne.

"This is horrible…" Alex muttered more to himself than anything.

"Yeah." Aulin agreed.

"Why was a damn Stalker here?" Alex asked in confusion, "They're only supposed to be around Vacuo…"

"I hope they put out an extermination for them soon…" Aulin said.

"Me too. I'm gonna kill every Stalker I see from now on if I can see them."

Aulin gave a small grin to him. "That mean you want to get revenge for Jace?"

"You're damn right-"

A loud, guttural roar caused all the horses to rear up in fear, bringing the caravan to a halt. Gilan and Vivi quickly jumped off their horses and ran to help bring all the wagons and horses together. After a few moments, another roar sounded and the horses were tied down before they ran off. All the students grouped up and they formed a barrier around the wagons.

"Gilan… What is this?" Bell asked the Ranger.

"The Armaddon that we warned you about." Gilan said, pulling out ice dust arrows from his quiver.

"What exactly are those?" Aulin asked, "Port never talked about them."

"You never pay attention." Inuvali said.

Aulin shrugged. "This is true."

Inuvali took a deep, calming breath. "Still, he has never said anything about them."

"That's because they're not well known," Gilan said, "All we know is they're big and they breathe fire."

"Lord watch over us…" Bell said and took a steadying breath.

"Another damn thing that's my fault…" Braxton muttered.

No one bothered to tell him differently as they heard small trees snapping in the forest. Another roar made them grip their weapons tighter. The Armaddon stalked out of the tree line and it looked around at its prey.

"What are we doin', Vivi?" Auron asked the cat Faunus. He received no answer and he looked around, not seeing the woman anywhere in the group, already moving around to flank it. The Armaddon roared as three dust arrows pierced its back and three more pierced the ground next to it. They started growing purple and started pulling the Grimm, but it stayed on its feet.

Auron saw what was happening stomped the ground, sending a large pillar of dust metal to its side with his semblance. The Armaddon was knocked to the side and Gilan sent ice arrow after ice arrow into the Armaddon's body, freezing it to the ground with multiple large flowers of ice. After a moment of hesitation, Auron, Alex, and Inuvali rushed in and attacked the Armaddon's underside. Their weapons cut into its flesh as it pulled hard with its head, pulling the gravity dust arrow out of its head. It looked at them and opened its mouth. It glowed red and it sent out blazing fire at them, driving them back from it. It turned on itself and melted the ice from its body, burning out the dust arrows to free its movement.

It rose to its feet as Bell and Aulin sent a barrage of lightning and ice shards toward the beast, the lighting shocking it and the ice hitting its joints and slowing it down. Raine blasted rounds from _Shagahod_ into its head and Auron took to firing rounds from _Last Call_ at its side. Vivi kept unleashing dust arrows at it and Gilan sent two gravity dust arrows, one to its head and one to its backside. They stuck and glowed brightly as they pulled the two ends together, immobilizing the Armaddon.

Auron gave a yell and charged for it as he transformed his weapon to its sword form. "You picked a bad time to fuck with us!"

He ducked down and stabbed his sword upward toward its heart. The blade got stuck in it and Auron yelled again as he stomped the ground, sending a powerful shaft of metal up, slamming the hilt and pushing the blade all the way into its body. The Armaddon roared loudly and Auron opened the tip of his sword, then he fired off a shot from it. He kept working the lever with his aura and he pulled the trigger over and over until he finally pulled _Last Call_ out with one final shot. The Grimm fell over onto the ground and Auron backed away from it a bit, back to the others.

"I'm in no fuckin' mood for-"

Auron was cut off by an explosion as the Armaddon blew up, sending bone shards and dirt everywhere. Everyone was sent to the ground and the shrapnel hit them, not doing any damage to them due to their aura but the force of the blast knocked the wind from them. Auron came back up to his feet and shook his head to clear it as he looked around at everyone. But he didn't see Alex with the others. He turned and saw Alex on the ground away from them, not moving at all.

"Alex!" He yelled and ran forward. The others saw where he was going and they all rushed over with Jess staying with the horses.

They arrived and saw he was still breathing, but his head was bleeding and his right arm was twisted in an unnatural way, obviously broken. Bell quickly dropped to her knees and started transferring her aura over to him, restoring it so it could heal his wounds. Gilan quickly straightened out his arm while Vivi brought the medical kit, opening it to reveal a splint. She quickly dropped down and set his arm right and tightened the splint, then gently set his arm down.

Aulin was right at his side, holding his hand with her eyes wide. "Alex, don't you dare be hurt worse than this! If you drop out before you say you ask me out then I'm gonna be pissed!"

That made nearly everyone in the group turn to look at her curiously but she ignored it and looked at Alex's face, looking for any sign he was conscious. What she said, more like yelled, seemed to have an effect as Alex's eyes slowly came open. He looked around at everyone but he couldn't move past Aulin.

He gave a smile as he opened his eyes up more. "Hey Aulin… What did you say? I couldn't-"

He was cut off as Aulin leaned down to place a hard kiss to his lips. She pulled back after a moment and glared at him. "That's for making me scared."

"Umm… I'm gonna scare you more often then if you're gonna do that..."

"Just say what you wanna say and we can do that a whole lot more."

"I… I love you, Aulin."

"About fucking time." Aulin said and kissed him once more, this time keeping it going for a few moments longer.

"I'll fuckin' say." Auron muttered.

"Well… at least something good came from this mission for you kids." Braxton said.

"Are the horses okay?" Gilan asked Jess.

"Yeah, they're good. Just a little skittish at the moment." The woman answered.

"Alright, we'll give it a few minutes and we'll go," Vivi said and looked up at the darkening clouds, "That's just great… Let's work on getting the canopies up in the meantime."

"Right," Bell said, taking a glance at her teammates, "Aulin, get Alex in the wagon and relax for now. We will take care of preparing the canopies."

Aulin nodded and stood up, carefully pulling Alex off the ground. "C'mon, big guy. Let's go get you laid down."

"Thanks, Aulin." Alex said and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

Inuvali gave a small grin and stood next to Bell. "Braxton is right. At least something good came from this."

Bell nodded. "Yes, at least there is that. I hope we arrive in Pyne soon. I cannot imagine how Genesis or Haile will take the news of what happened."

"Jace has been through worse than this. He'll pull through."

"Still, that will not make losing an arm any less difficult. But he will perservere."

Inuvali nodded slowly. "True. Let's go help them with the wagons now."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN:The more things change, the more they stay the same. I hope I'm using that right.**

 **So, Jace lost his arm in this story. A completely different way than in The Brave and the Bold. This is supposed to keep with the fact that you never know what can happen to you, and if it happens, then it can happen fast. But this time, he had that reaction because he wasn't fighting for freedom and he didn't have so much happen at one time like in B &B.**

 **Also, Ranger's think quick. They saw a big target that needed to be slowed down so they could study it. I figured I should explain that.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	25. Chapter 25: Don't Cry

**Chapter Twenty Five**

 **Don't Cry**

Very slowly, Jace opened his eyes only to be almost blinded by bright light. When his eyes adjusted, he could tell he was inside… a tree? There were reddish walls and ceiling and he could smell the very faint scent of a cedar tree. He looked around more and saw hospital equipment, such as lights, curtains, monitoring equipment, defibrillators, among other things. He also noticed several wires and a tube sticking in his chest and arm respectively.

"The hell am I…?"

"You're in the hospital. We guessed you would be out longer. I suppose I should welcome you to Pyne."

Jace looked over and saw a doctor smiling at him. The man had graying black hair, but the sides were cut more and they were fully gray. The wrinkles in his face suggested he was quite a bit older than Jace. He raised the top of the bed up so Jace could be sitting more instead of laying, gently moving the wires that were sticking out of Jace's body.

"Pyne?" Jace echoed.

"Yes. You were rushed here after an accident and you were treated. There is someone here to see you from Beacon." The doctor said. Jace saw his name tag and saw his name was Marcus.

"Umm… Who is it?"

"Professor Ozpin."

"He's... here? Wait, where's Alyss at?" Jace asked quickly.

"She's okay, don't worry. She's resting in the waiting room. Shall I bring them both in?" Marcus asked.

Jace nodded, but he sighed. "I… I-I lost…"

"Yes, you lost your left arm…" Marcus said carefully, "Unfortunately, the tissue and muscle were torn too much for your arm to be saved. I'm sorry."

Jace nodded much more slowly and numbly. "O-okay… I guess Ozpin is here to tell me I have to drop out…"

"I'll go get them now." Marcus said and left the bedside.

Jace stared up at the roof of the carved-out hospital and sighed heavily. He had lost his arm. He didn't even know what happened or where exactly he or any of his friends were. All he knew was he and Alyss were in Pyne and Ozpin wanted to see him. He looked back down and closed his eyes, bracing himself for what he was about to see. He slowly looked to the left and true enough, his arm was gone. The sight of it made his heart rate rise for a few moments, told by the monitor at his side, and then it settled as Jace breathed deeply. He must've looked like a sad excuse for a Huntsman. At the moment, he _felt_ like a sad excuse for a Huntsman.

It wasn't even his arm missing that scared him. He was just afraid that he would have to drop out. And _that_ scared him. He was scared that he wasn't scared that he lost his arm. He had heard stories of how people woke up, panicking and screaming in pain as they realized a limb was gone. But he didn't scream, he didn't feel much pain. He just saw it and... accepted it.

"Jace!"

He looked up quickly and saw Alyss running toward him, emerald and sapphire eyes red-rimmed from crying. She arrived and quickly leaned over him to give him a tight hug, not wanting to let go.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you! I jinxed us! I thought there would be no Stalkers but-!"

"Don't blame yourself," Jace said before she could devolve into more self-blame, "I don't even know what happened and you're blaming yourself…" He was able to look past her and she saw the doctor return with Ozpin right behind him.

"W-we fought the Grimm that night and your aura was down… Th-then a Stalker came up behind you and-"

"Okay… Okay. You don't have to keep going..." Jace sighed, "I can guess what happened next."

"Mister Reznor… how are you feeling?" Ozpin asked first thing.

"I'm not dying at least… And I'm awake and alive, but…" Jace looked at his left side, "I'm useless…"

Alyss finally moved back and held his hand tightly. Ozpin sighed and took a seat that one of the staff members brought over for them. "I wouldn't say _useless_. Despite what happened, we now know that there are Stalkers that moved into Vale and we will be putting out exterminations for them. Speaking of which, you are taking this quite well. I remember James had quite a hard time believing he had lost the right side of his body."

"I didn't know that…" Jace said and looked down, "I guess it's because I've been through so much trauma early in my life that this just… It doesn't faze me as much…"

"A couple days ago, you woke up in the wagon and screamed when you found out…" Alyss sniffled.

"That would happen to anyone, I believe." Ozpin said.

"I did?" Jace asked and Alyss nodded slowly, "Good. I was afraid that I didn't scream..." He sighed and turned to Ozpin, "What now, sir?" He asked his, what he feared he would be now, former headmaster, "What's gonna happen with me?"

Ozpin gave him a reassuring smile. "Well mister Reznor, miss Wystar has informed me that-"

"Ah! I knew I'd find you in here!"

The group turned their heads and saw a girl carrying a long box and what looks to be a roll of paper. She wore black jeans and a white tank top with a black jacket wrapped around her waist.

"How's it coming, Hayley?" Alyss asked her,

Jace stared around, confused by the arrival and the fact Alyss knew her. "Huh? Who…?"

"And you're awake too! That's even better!" Hayley exclaimed and went to Jace's left side.

"Umm… What?"

"Jace, this is Hayley." Alyss introduced her.

"Hiya," Hayley greeted with a smile and turned to the doctor, "How's the base doing?"

"Good," Marcus replied, "I wrapped it up to prevent confusion before you got here."

"Can… someone please tell me what is going on?" Jace asked everyone.

Marcus moved to remove the bandages and Hayley handed the roll of paper to Alyss. Alyss took it and unrolled it, smiling a bit as she went to show Jace. "Hayley is a prosthetic mechanic. Look at this."

"It took me a bit longer to get it finished. Sorry for that," Hayley said with a wry grin, "I needed to go get my paper because I kinda left home in a hurry."

"It's fine," Alyss assured her and she saw the look on Jace's face as he stared at the plans, "Hayley's gonna make you a prosthetic. She's Braxton's daughter. He blames himself for what happened and he called for her when Vivi went back to Calm for help."

"U-umm…" Jace hesitated, "How much-"

"Free of charge!" Hayley cheered, "I won't hear anything different and neither will dad. He might seem like he doesn't care, but he's just a big ol' teddy bear to tell you the truth. Besides, you'll be paying me for maintenance if and when it needs it anyway."

"Free…? You'll do it for free?" Jace asked as Marcus removed all the bandages, revealing black metal base over his left shoulder. It left some if his shoulder exposed toward his neck and it covered part of his chest.

"Yeah. It's free, I swear," Hayley confirmed, "Just keep doing what you do."

"That is what I was going to tell you," Ozpin said, "Nothing will change. You will still be a part of my school."

"And don't you worry about not being able to feel your girlfriend's body with it," Hayley chuckled, "You'll get your feeling back and it'll produce your body heat."

"That's… That's an awesome relief to hear." Jace said.

Ozpin stood from his seat and placed his hand on Jace's shoulder. "I must return to Beacon. If you wish, I can tell your brother for you. Or you may tell him yourself."

"Either way is fine with me… Thank you, sir. For letting me stay."

"I will also be covering your hospital bill and room and board during your stay in Pyne. Now, have a good day, all of you." Ozpin said and left the room.

"S-so… What's with the box?" Jace asked Hayley.

The mechanic moved to open it and revealed a simple-looking prosthetic. "This it just a temporary thing, not meant for much besides daily stuff. It's got feeling to it too and it won't do much to attach it. You'll have it for a few days while I work on the real deal."

"Huh…" Jace looked at the prosthetic as Hayley lifted it up out of the box, "When can I get out of bed?"

"It depends on if you pass out when it's attached." Marcus answered.

"Why would I pass out?"

Hayley quickly worked to put the arm on and lock it into place. "Because you'll feel the nerves attach and it'll be painful. But it won't be much for this one, like I said. Ready?"

Jace nodded and Hayley turned the attachment bolt, activating the nerves and the entire thing. Jace gritted his teeth and his body tensed at the pain, but it subsided after a few moments and it left him breathing heavily.

"Alright. Move it around." Hayley told him. Jace nodded and started focusing, moving the arm around a bit. It was slow and stiff, and the fingers didn't exactly clench tightly into a fist.

"It's not gonna be fluid like your right arm. But like I said, it's only temporary," Hayley explained, "It won't grip anything hard because that's how I fixed it up. You won't crush anything but you can grab things easy. And don't worry, it's completely sterilized so you can use it to eat. And other stuff too."

"Huh… I guess I'll be waiting here awhile, won't I?" Jace asked.

"Like I said, it'll be a few days," Hayley said, "Grab something and see if the sensors are good in the fingers," Jace complied and he grabbed the bed sheets. He barely felt the fabric, but he felt it and nodded, "Alright, good. I'm gonna go work on your arm now. Be ready."

She left the two alone and Jace just stared at the arm. "So… I'm already getting help?"

"Yeah," Alyss answered, smiling widely for the first time in a few days, "You have Braxton to thank, really."

Jace nodded. "And I will…"

"How do you feel about it? Y'know, losing your arm?" Alyss asked softly.

"I'm not gonna lie… It sucks," Jace answered truthfully, "It's just… a lot to take in. I've dealt with trauma before. But… I just accepted this so quickly. And that scares me, honestly. I'm scared that if I lose something else then I'll just shrug it off."

"I… I don't know what to tell you about that," Alyss said and held his hand tightly, "But you're you. You're just you…"

Jace nodded and sighed, then he looked to the doctor that was waiting patiently. "Can I get out of bed now?"

Marcus nodded. "Of course. Let me unhook you from the machines…"

* * *

"Thanks for bringing my extra clothes." Jace said to Alyss after they had dinner.

"I knew you would need them considering your jacket had so much blood on it." Alyss replied and took a sip of her water.

"At least it's getting washed… How was everyone else doing?"

"It was tense, but they're completing the mission. We knew it would be what you wanted." Alyss answered, finally able to relax now that Jace was awake and moving.

"Why did you leave them?" Jace asked her, "I'm sure they could've still needed you."

"Because I was ordered to," Alyss answered with a small smile, "Vivi said my mind wouldn't have been in the right place if I was worrying over you so much… And Auron said I needed to do what I did when you told us your secret, to be a comforting kitten."

"I hope they're alright…" Jace said and sighed, but smiled at seeing his girlfriend's smile, "I hope Hayley can get that done soon."

"She said three days if she pulls all-nighters. A week at most and the others should be here in a week and a half."

The two finished their drinks and Jace paid the server, then they left the restaurant. They stepped out of the tree it was built into and walked past its front window toward the shopping areas. "I kinda feel like we're cheating, seeing Pyne before the others." Jace remarked.

"Kinda, yeah," Alyss agreed, "Do you think you should call Genesis and Haile?"

Jace thought about it for a few moments before he slowly shook his head. "No, not yet. I will when I get my new arm so when they come running, I can train because I know Gen's gonna wanna test it out."

"Yeah, that makes sense, but… your sword's back with the others."

"Huh…" Jace sighed, something he has already done a lot of that day, "I could see if I can get one for practice, but the balance won't be the same."

Alyss held his hand and he in turn wrapped his tail around her thigh. She rubbed her head against his shoulder and he sighed again. He looked at the temporary prosthetic and wiggled the fingers. "So it'll be like normal?"

"She says it'll move so fluidly it'll be like metal flesh," Alyss said, "Kind of a weird thing to think of. You wanna go see how she's doing later?"

"Sure. Let's just explore the village first."

They walked down the wide road, passing the villagers and waving politely when waved at, greeting kindly when greeted. When asked, Jace explained why he had a prosthetic to multiple people, who gave him their sympathies and well wishes. After a little while longer, they found the shopping district. There were stores at the bases of trees and they were wooden, making it look almost natural. The two went to a general store and looked around for a while. Alyss looked in a clothing section for anything she might wear more casually while she was in the village and Jace just looked for anything interesting. He found the accessory section of the store and looked around. He saw different necklaces, rings, ribbons, and bows among other things.

His eyes stopped when he saw a purple, silken bow. He took it and ran it through his good fingers, smiling at the softness of it. He took it and went to the counter to buy it. "Is this all?" The woman at the register asked and Jace nodded, "Okay, that'll be ten lien. I take it this is for the girl you came in with?"

"Yeah. I owe her for staying with me after…" Jace moved the prosthetic and gave a pained smile.

"If you don't mind, where did you come from?"

"Well… we were part of the caravan from Calm. We're part of a team of Huntsmen-in-training from Beacon. It was our first mission and I got hurt bad, so I got sent here ahead of them by ambulance and she came with me… Our other teammates volunteered to stay to help our friends finish it."

"Ah… I hope things turn out well for you," The woman took the lien from Jace and smiled, "Is this everything?"

Jace looked around the counter and his eyes stopped on a small box. He gulped a bit and pointed it out with a light blush on his face and the woman raised an eyebrow as she took one of them and checked the price. "You just started dating, didn't you?"

Jace nodded shyly. "Y-yeah… We started almost a month ago. I want to take it slow, I really do… but after this…" He looked at the prosthetic.

"You want to be able to do everything you can before something extremely bad happens." The woman finished knowingly.

"Yeah. I've never… y'know…"

"You don't have to say anything," The woman said and handed him the box. Jace went to retrieve more lien but she shook her head, "That's free of charge. Just take it slow and don't push her or yourself into something you guys might not be comfortable with, alright?"

"Right… Thanks."

"Don't mention it. And if you're staying at the Fortree Hotel..." The woman whispered, "the walls are pretty thick."

"Umm… I'll keep that in mind…"

"Have a good day and a speedy recovery."

Jace nodded and went to find Alyss as he shoved the box in his pocket. It didn't take him long to see the ash-blonde and black hair and the cat ears of his girlfriend. She was crouched over next to a mother and child, letting the small girl pet her ears, both of them with yellow horns of a dragon. The girl had a wide, toothy smile at hearing the _purrs_ emanating from Alyss' chest. Jace walked up to them, holding the bow behind his back with the prosthetic.

"What's going on?" He asked them all

Alyss glanced up at him and smiled. "She just wanted to see what my ears felt like. Jealous?"

Jace shook his head and laughed. "No, I'm not. I get to pet them as much as I want."

"Oh, you have kitty ears too!" The girl exclaimed toward Jace, "Umm… can I pet yours too, please?"

"You're so touchy today, dear." Her mother gave a smile.

Jace nodded and crouched down too. "Yeah, go ahead. It's only fair since you pet my girlfriend's ears," He looked up at the girl's mother and smiled, "It's really fine. It's good that she wants to be this friendly."

"Thank you for not minding. She's always been curious." The woman said as her daughter started to pet Jace's ears, causing _purrs_ to escape him.

"Oh you purr too! That's so cute!" The girl exclaimed

After a few more moments, the girl stopped and they bid their farewells to each other. Jace grinned after them and he turned to his girlfriend. He reached the prosthetic around and showed Alyss the bow. "I got this for you."

Alyss tilted her head and took the bow, her ears giving a look that conveyed her curiosity, and she ran her fingers along it. "It's so soft and it looks pretty… You didn't have to buy me anything."

"I might not have _had_ to, but I wanted to."

Alyss smiled as she gave him a light hug. "Thank you. That's sweet."

"Well, I have to try my best to match your sweetness." Jace said.

Alyss released him and went to find a mirror. She stood in front of it and she wrapped her hair up in a loose ponytail with the black parts of her hair hanging free. She turned back to Jace and smiled. "How's it look?"

"I really think it looks pretty like that." Jace said with a smile.

"Thank you, sweetie. I really like it."

The two left the store soon after and walked to the hotel which, like all residential housing, was built into a massive tree. It had twelve floors and at least two rooms on each floor with balconies built out from them.

"So… is this where we're staying?" Jace asked.

"Yeah. I don't know what the room is like. I slept in the waiting room since we've been here." Alyss answered him.

"Huh… Let's go see how Hayley's doing." Jace said and the two walked toward the repair shop where the girl parked the truck and camper.

"I wonder how the arm will be." Alyss said.

"I dunno… Is she really just fifteen?"

"That's what she said. It's pretty amazing."

"It is… After we see her, we can head to our room. I'm sure you must be tired."

"I really am."

They arrived at the camper and heard some grinding noises coming from inside, as well as flashes through the windows of it. Jace waited until there was a pause in the grinding before he knocked on the door. After a few moments of silence, the door opened and the cyan-haired teen gave a smile as she raised her tinted safety glasses off her eyes.

"Hey there. Up and moving around already?"

"Yeah. We figured we'd come by to see how you're doing." Jace replied.

"That's nice of you. Vic could certainly show that kind of attention from time to time," Hayley laughed, "Wanna see what I've done so far?"

"Sure." They both said and Hayley let them into the camper. They stepped inside and saw it had been stripped of most of the living essentials and replaced with things that would be found in a workshop. She still had a bed and a small kitchen, but it was mostly a large workbench with different prototype prosthetic arms and legs hanging from the ceiling.

"Here it is," The mechanic said and pointed to multiple pieces of metal and wiring, "It's not much to look at right now, but it'll be all put together in no time."

"I'll look forward to it." Jace said, showing a smile.

Hayley nodded and grinned at Alyss. "Your hair looks nice like that."

Alyss smiled. "Thanks. Jace bought me a bow."

"That's nice. Not to be rude, but I need to get to work. Now shoo."

"Right, I don't wanna delay you," Jace said, "Don't overwork yourself for my sake. Just take your time."

"Oh trust me," Hayley grinned, "I built Vic's arm _and_ leg in three days with no sleep. I got this handled."

* * *

 **AN: Warning! Some sexual content on the way but nothing really _really_ detailed! Also has a bit of plot stuff, so it's kinda recommended to read through. **

**XxX**

"Did… Did we get the best floor or something?" Jace said as he stared out over the balcony of their room on the top floor that night. It had started raining and they were just watching and listening to it. They had taken their shoes off to be respectful of the hotel manager's wishes.

"Yeah… I think Ozpin's really looking out for you because of what happened." Alyss said, holding his hand as they sat side by side in the simple wooden chairs.

"I hope the others are okay in this rain." Jace said, worry edging in his voice.

"I'm sure they are. They probably prepared for it and they have protection from it."

Jace nodded and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Umm… What do you think about me losing my arm?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Alyss asked.

"Because what you think is the most important thing to me right now. I wanted to ask earlier but I wanted to wait until we were alone."

"It's gonna be weird for awhile, I won't lie," Alyss admitted, "We both have to get used to it, but you'll get through it. _We'll_ get through it."

"I'm glad to hear you wanna stick with me…" Jace gave a small smile

"Why wouldn't I?" Alyss asked, "Just because you lost your arm doesn't mean I'm gonna see you differently…"

"It's just the fact that… I'm not whole anymore…" Jace sighed, "I lost a piece of myself. It's just never gonna be the same now."

"Like I said earlier, Jace…" Alyss stood from her seat and sent her right leg over Jace's legs, then sat down on his lap facing him, "You're still _you_ , honey. Just because you're gonna have a prosthetic doesn't mean I'm gonna leave you. I don't _want_ to leave you. I love you and nothing is gonna change that."

Jace looked up into her eyes and they shined in sincerity. He gave a shaky smile. "You really don't know how happy I am to hear that… but…" He reached up with his right hand and placed it on the side of her head. He pulled her down closer to him and he craned his head up and kissed her on the lips. She smiled and pressed a bit harder as she put a hand on his shoulder and a hand on the back of his head to pull him a bit closer.

They stopped after a few moments and Jace let out a shaky breath. "Maybe that can show you how happy I am." He said.

Alyss _hummed_ and smiled widely. "I've been waiting for that since that first one when you asked me to the dance."

"So have I… I umm… There's something I thought about earlier and…" Jace hesitated as he looked down, biting his lip, "Losing my arm made me think… We really don't know what can happen to us. This proved that…" He moved the prosthetic up and glanced at it, "Alyss, I want to be with you. I want to experience everything with you and I wanted to take it slow, but-mmph!"

Jace was silenced by a kiss and Alyss leaned back. She started blushing as she reached down and grabbed the bottom of her shirt. She lifted it up over her head and revealed her bra-covered breasts and bare stomach to him, leaving him speechless at the flawless and toned skin. He had seen it before, but in the moment they were in, she looked stunningly beautiful.

"It made me think too, Jace… I don't want to lose you because I really think you're the only person I will ever have that connection with… The only one I'll love like this," She tossed the shirt over to her original chair, "If I lose you, then I'll never be able to do this. I want to be with you and only you and I want to experience everything too…" She fooled around with her bra and unclasped it, then she moved it out of the way to completely reveal her medium-sized breasts to Jace.

He stared dumbfounded at Alyss as she threw the bra over to join her shirt. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "A-are you sure…?" Jace asked, "I don't want to force you…"

Alyss smiled softly and grabbed his hand. "I _want_ this, Jace. We never know if we won't see each other anymore and right now I want this more than anything. Raine told me before that you never know when it's time to say goodbye…" Her eyes grew slitted as she moved his hand to her left breast, "I want _you_ , Jace… I want everything…" She said in a sultry tone, the look in her eyes conveying her desire.

"You remember you told us you read about everything Faunus related?" She asked and Jace nodded rather numbly as his hand lightly squeezed around her breast, drawing a light _gasp_ from her, "So you know the instincts that come in for cat Faunus…"

"Y-yeah…" Jace said, starting to feel his own lust starting to boil over, "I know everything."

"Good… But…" Alyss sighed as she looked down, "we don't have…"

Jace took his hand from her and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the box of condoms he bought earlier that day as his eyes slitted as well. "I decided to get some for this… I just didn't know it would be this soon."

Alyss smiled as she leaned down to kiss him more heatedly than before, pushing her tongue into his mouth. Jace opened his mouth more and pushed back, their tongues dancing around for a solid minute. They pulled back and Alyss stepped up from Jace's lap.

Jace threw the condoms on the bed and he rose up with her. He kissed her again and squeezed his hand around her breast again much more firmly, drawing a louder _gasp_ and a _moan_ from her. He moved his mouth down her neck and kissed hard, then he opened his mouth and bit down a bit, drawing an ' _eep_ ' and a shuddering breath from Alyss. He sucked hard, drawing up the bit of blood from the bite, and he moved away from it. He placed kisses all the way down her neck and chest to her left breast where he put his mouth over her nipple. He sucked on it as he looked up with his eyes, seeing Alyss biting her lip in pleasure. He _hummed_ and started licking, flicking with his tongue as Alyss grabbed his hair, pulling his head harder against her. Jace pulled back and grabbed the hardened nipple in his teeth, pulling on it before letting go.

"Oh gods, _Jace_ …" Alyss moaned his name.

Jace grinned and picked her up as he kissed her. He held her legs up and guided them over to the bed. He set her down and immediately kissed her breasts, going between sucking on her nipples and squeezing them with his real and prosthetic hand. They were going on autopilot, neither of them exactly _knew_ what they were doing, so to speak. Their instincts were taking over but they knew exactly what was going on, and they were ready for it. They trusted their instincts and more than that, they trusted each other.

"Now Jace, am I gonna be the only one that's naked?" Alyss asked as she slowly worked her jeans off her legs, feeling so much heat inside her body as she moved her hand down and slipped her fingers under the waistband of her panties.

"Of course not, Kitten." Jace said and all but ripped his shirt off.

Alyss worked her panties off and revealed her full body to him. She grabbed the box and opened it up, then pulled out one of its contents.

"Now… Shall we?"

Jace gave a grin and crawled over her. He slipped his good hand under the back of her head and pulled her up for a deep kiss. She _moaned_ under it and slid her hand down to her lower lips, feeling her wetness dripping from her. Jace pulled back from her and removed his hand, letting her head fall to the pillows. He traced her torso from her neck to her breasts with his hand and soon made his way down to where her hand was. He paused in his actions and leaned down, giving Alyss a light kiss.

"Thank you... for being my first," He said, "And my only."

Alyss smiled. "And thank you for being mine."


	26. Chapter 26: Whole

**Chapter Twenty Six**

 **Whole**

 _"I'm broken, flawed… but I'm just me."_

That thought went through Jace's mind as he waited patiently in the hotel room. The temporary prosthetic was taken off and he was waiting for the real thing. Alyss was right next to him, holding his hand as always. Both of them wore wide smiles on their faces since they woke up a few mornings ago, after they had sex. They both had scratches on their arms and backs and they had bite marks and hickeys on their necks and shoulders due to the instincts that kicked in. Those instincts completely made their inexperience vanish as the two all but ravaged each other's bodies that night.

 _"I didn't know what to think when I read about all of that,"_ Jace had said the next morning, _"I can't deny that I like the scratching and biting."_

 _"Same,"_ Alyss replied, _"And the bit of domination… I never knew I was submissive. I like it. Especially since it's with you."_

Jace had grinned at that. _"Well, you might be submissive in situations like that, but you can control me in public."_

 _"Oh can I now?"_

 _"Those eyes are too beautiful to resist."_

"Alright, final touches are done," Hayley said tiredly as she brought the prosthetic over to Jace from the table. She showed it to him fully, moving the fingers individually, "It's a heavy combat model. Made out of Atlesian steel…" She told him, pointing out everything. It had three segmented plates hugging the shoulder like a type of spaulder, le aving the top bare with pins extending from all sides of it. The forearm plates were darker silver and there were plates of black metal on the sides of the forearm, then there were two more smaller silver plates on the sides of the upper arm. The pinky and ring finger were silver as well.

"Feel the insides of the fingers." Hayley said and Jace did.

"Wow, it feels soft and squishy." He remarked.

The mechanic nodded. "Synthetic flesh. Feels like normal skin, doesn't it?" She said and Jace nodded, "You can squeeze stuff and they won't be pinched by metal. And with the heating element in the shoulder, it'll match your body heat and radiate it through the prosthetic. It's also got synthetic fingernails for itches that you just can't scratch. Just don't bite them off" She laughed

"So, it really will kinda be like normal?" Alyss asked.

"Yep. The feeling and heat will be like he never lost his arm," Hayley yawned and blinked her eyes, "Okay, the fun's about to start."

"What do you mean by that?" Jace asked as she worked to put the arm in place.

"The nerves are gonna be connected. Then there's the aura drain," Hayley said and locked the arm down, then she pushed the pins inside that sent jolts through Jace's shoulder. She moved her finger to the switch and she turned to Alyss, "Be ready to help out."

"U-umm, okay," Alyss said and prepared herself for… something, "What's gonna happen?"

"Jace, I'm gonna count down from three." Hayley warned.

"Okay… I guess I'm ready…" Jace gulped nervously.

"Alright… Three. Two… One!" She flipped the switch.

* * *

Jace's eyes slowly came open and he looked around the room. He yawned, then he looked around for Alyss. It didn't take him long to find her as she had her arms wrapped firmly around his waist from behind, _purring_ lightly. Jace placed his hand over hers and smiled softly before he realized what hand he was doing that with. He brought it up and looked at the metal limb. He moved the fingers around and heard the faint mechanical movements of them. He gave a happier smile at seeing he was kind-of normal again.

That made him tilt his head a bit. _Normal_. If he was being truthful, then he was always normal even when he was used in experiments. His family and friends made him feel normal. And even right after he lost his arm, he was normal because Alyss still made him feel normal. He smiled even more at the thought of that as he thought back to what was in his mind before.

Broken, flawed, but himself.

Now _that_ had truth to it. Everyone was broken or flawed in some way, even Weiss had begrudgingly admitted she wasn't perfect. But after spending that night with Alyss, Jace started to realize something. He felt that she made him whole. She filled his life and soul with love and passion in the short time they'd been together. Even if he had not received a prosthetic, he felt he would still think that about her. That she just made him whole.

Jace turned in Alyss' arms and faced her as he brought his tail around. He moved the tip of it to lightly brush it across her nose, causing it to wrinkle a bit. Alyss woke up and immediately sneezed, almost sounding like a squeak. She opened her eyes up and saw the smiling face of her boyfriend.

"Morning, Pretty Kitty." Jace greeted her.

"I didn't plan on falling asleep," Alyss yawned, "What time is it?"

"Hell if I know. I didn't bother checking yet. Kinda enjoying every part of this." Jace replied and kissed her cheek.

She _hummed_ and smiled under it. "So, did you notice your arm?"

"I did and it feels awesome, "Jace answered, "Only things are I'm sore and I can't remember what happened earlier before it was put on."

"Really nothing much. Just Hayley bringing it, detaching the other one, and attaching this one."

"Huh… How's she doing?"

"Out like a light in her workshop-office thing. She'll probably be asleep for awhile."

"Probably," Jace agreed, "So… I think I might have my day planned out."

"And what all does it have in store?"

"A few calls. Maybe my eardrums busting. And waiting." Jace answered, dreading the day.

"Calling Gen and Haile?"

"Yep. If I get enough signal," Jace said, "I'm gonna call the others and let them know I'm okay, too."

"At least you shouldn't have to leave the room."

"Yeah, true. I'm gonna sit on the balcony. Wanna join?"

"Sure."

The two got out of the bed and walked out to the balcony where they sat down, with Alyss at Jace's left side. They sat for a few moments, just enjoying the light breeze in the air and the view around them. Jace looked over to Alyss and she smiled as she held his prosthetic hand lightly. He smiled back and took a deep breath as he took out his scroll. Then he paused.

"I'm actually gonna go take shower. I'm freaking sore."

"Can I join?" Alyss asked innocently.

Jace smiled again. "Of course."

* * *

"The hell is lava dust?" Genesis asked with a sigh as he kept tapping his pencil against his paper. He wished he and his team could've stayed in Gaia for awhile longer. He enjoyed the time spent there but it was too short for his liking at only five days. He very much enjoyed seeing Nika in a bikini. It didn't take that long for GLSS to deal with exterminating the Grimm and SHRA dealt with the search and destroy with no problems as well. Now, they were all back at Beacon, dealing with schoolwork once more.

"It's the combination of burn, water, and earth dust," Michael answered him, "No one really knows how or why it works."

"I'd rather just stick with base dust types." Liza remarked.

Nika looked up from her textbook and sighed. "Dust can be really weird sometimes. I mean, this book says that someone used dust to just completely grow crops somewhere in Anima. Then in Pyne, the trees are kept alive by earth dust and other things."

Genesis felt his scroll buzz and he went to look at it. He saw it was a call from Jace and he answered. "Hey Jace. How's it going?"

"As good as it can be," Jace answered truthfully, "How'd your mission go?"

"Good. We got to spend a day at the beach with SHRA. It was good to relax some before coming back to learn about… lava dust."

"Sounds complicated."

"Yep. What about you? You still escorting those wagons?"

"Well… not me or Alyss right now…" Jace's voice got noticably lower.

That made Genesis sit up straighter in his seat. "Why? What happened."

He heard the deep intake of breath from Jace and he tensed up. "Gen… I… I don't want you to panic…"

"Jace, what is it? What's wrong?"

"We… We were attacked by Grimm a week into the mission and we took them all out but a Stalker… it came up behind me and my aura was low and I… I lost my arm."

Genesis was silent for several moments as his eyes widened. "C-can you say that again…? I don't fucking believe that, Jace. This better be a bad joke…"

Jace sighed. "It's true, Gen… I really lost my arm…"

Genesis took a long breath and let it out slowly. "I'll see you soon." He said and hung up quickly.

"Can you guys cover my schoolwork for maybe a week?" He asked his team.

"Why? What's wrong?" Nika asked him.

"It's Jace. He said he lost his arm to a Stalker." Genesis said as he put _Standoff_ on his back.

"Stalkers?" Michael asked in confusion, "They shouldn't be out of the deserts."

"You don't think I fucking know that, Mike?" Genesis said in annoyance and worry, quickly packing a bag, "I'm going to see for myself. I just can't believe this."

Nika stepped forward and hugged him. "Don't worry about schoolwork. We'll take care of it. Just make sure Jace is alright." She said and gave him a short kiss.

A knock on the door interrupted them and Genesis quickly went to answer it. He opened it and he saw Ozpin standing there. "Hello mister Galloway…"

"Hello sir," Genesis greeted briskly, "Did you know?" He asked, "Did you know Jace lost his arm?"

Ozpin nodded solemnly. "I did… I just didn't know how to tell you."

"It's fine," Geneiss said quickly, "He called me and told me a minute ago. I'm going to Pyne." He declared, his demeanor suggesting that he would be going no matter what Ozpin said.

Ozpin nodded once more. "I understand your need to check on his safety yourself. You will be excused as long as your team keeps your schoolwork up to date."

Genesis nodded. "Thank you."

"I will have a bullhead prepared to take you there."

* * *

Haile sifted through papers in the living room of his home as he had the vidcaster on and turned to the news. It only went over weather for the moment and nothing of real importance. He heard his scroll ring on the coffee table and he reached over to pick it up and he cocked an eyebrow when he saw it was Jace. He set his papers to the side and he answered.

"Hello Jace. School going well?"

"It's... something," Jace answered, "Pyne is really nice."

"Oh, so you got your mission completed? Good-"

"No dad…" Jace interrupted him, "Me and Alyss didn't. The others are doing it for us."

"Jace, what's wrong?" Haile asked.

"I already called Gen about it. I'd imagine that he's coming straight over," Jace sighed, "My aura was down and a Stalker came up behind me and it... cut my arm off… It couldn't be saved…"

"You… lost your arm?" Haile asked in disbelief at what he heard.

"Yeah. I did…"

"Is everyone else okay?"

"Other than probably worrying about me, I hope so. Gen didn't give me a chance to say this… but I got a prosthetic already."

"You did?" Haile asked in surprise, "Does Ironwood know or something?"

"No. As far as I know, he doesn't know anything yet unless Ozpin told him," Jace answered him, "A wagon driver's daughter is a prosthetic engineer or mechanic or whatever. He got her and he told her what happened and she did it for free. I owe them both. It's a really good prosthetic but I need to train with it. She says it's a heavy combat model and it's made from Atlesian steel. I'd train with it later, but my sword is back with the others."

Haile let out a loud sigh. "Well, I'm on my way to thank them myself and to see you're alright. See you there, kid."

"Seeya then."

Haile put his scroll down and organized the papers on the coffee table. He sighed as he picked the device back up and went to call General Ironwood.

"Hello Haile. What can I do for you." Ironwood answered.

"Hello James… It'll be awhile before I get those mission reports ready for you. I need to go down to Pyne to see Jace. He just called and said he lost his arm…"

* * *

Raine easily dispatched the Grimm blocking their way over one hundred yards down the road and she sat back down with a sigh as she reloaded Shagahod. She saw a Nevermore in the sky coming for them and she took aim, sending aura through her weapon to charge the bolt dust inner barrel. When she felt it was charged enough, she let the ports open on either side of the outer barrel. Then, she pulled the trigger and the electrified round tore through the air, striking the Grimm in the chest and blowing a large hole in it, then it went down toward the ground. Raine let the charge of the barrel die down and the ports receded into the sides of the barrel.

"How much further do you think we are?" She asked Jess.

"At least three days," The young woman answered, "If there are no bad storms that move in, then we should make it by then..."

They weren't that far off from Pyne now. The caravan had picked up the pace toward the village to get the mission done as soon as possible, to check up on Jace. Alex had been recovering well and he had been able to fight a bit as well as he was ambidextrous. Plus he still had two good legs to use.

"Braxton's taking this pretty hard,"Jess sighed, "He hasn't said too much since your friend was rushed to Pyne."

"I've never seen him like this when I was back for breaks from school," Raine said, "He's not one for subtlety on his feelings."

"Nope, he's not," Jess agreed, "I can only imagine how much he's gonna cry when Hayley gets married."

Raine let out a small chuckle. "I don't think I want to imagine that."

Raine's scroll buzzed and she took another look down the road to make sure they were okay to progress. She nodded to herself and took her scroll out, her ears perking up as she saw it was from Jace.

"Hey Jace," She answered the call, "Everything okay?"

"At the moment, I'd say more than okay," Jace answered with a chipper tone, "I'm feeling extremely awesome, considering everything."

"That's good to hear," Raine said with a sigh of relief, "We've all been worried about you. Everyone'll be glad to hear that."

"And guess what. Hayley already made the prosthetic. It's attached and it feels awesome."

"That's really good to hear!" Raine exclaimed, causing the wagon to come to a halt, "How long did that take?"

"Three days. I'll show it to you when you guys get here."

"Alright. We're maybe three or four more days away. We've been pushing harder so we can come see you. Gods, this'll really bring our morale back up."

"Good. Sorry for making you guys worry." Jace said ruefully.

"Don't worry about it. How's Aly?"

"She's okay. It definitely helped that she was here with me. How's stuff over there?"

"On and off fighting Grimm. The day after you guys left, we had to fight the Armaddon Gilan warned us about. It… well… it exploded when we killed it. And it broke Alex's arm."

"It broke his arm!? Is he okay!?"

"Oh yeah, he's more than okay. Wanna know something? It caused him and Aulin to start dating!"

"Really?" Jace asked, his mood immediately lightening, "That's good. I'm gonna go ahead and get off here. Say hi to everyone for me."

"I will. See you in a few days, Jace."

They ended the call and Raine breathed a huge sigh of relief. She stood up and looked behind her to see the other wagons stopped. Vivi trotted her horse up to her and regarded her curiously. "So, what was that about, little fox?"

"That was Jace. He's okay and he got his prosthetic already."

Jess gave a smile. "Brax told you she was a prodigy. I'm glad to hear he's better."

Vivi smiled widely at the news. "That's good to know. This one will tell the others and we can move on."

She moved back a bit and raised her voice. "Everyone! Dismount and group up! This one has good news!"

After a few minutes, everyone met around the center wagon. Vivi turned to Raine and grinned. "Do you want to tell them?"

Raine nodded and she gave a smile. "Jace is okay. He called me and told me everything is fine and he has his prosthetic."

"Hell yeah!" Auron exclaimed, showing a returning smile for the first time in a week.

"That is a relief to hear. Thank Oum." Bell said with a sigh of relief.

"I also told him about your arm and relationship status." Raine grinned at Alex.

"Getting blown up by an Armaddon was _so_ worth it." Alex laughed.

"I'm not going that far, but I'm kinda glad you did." Aulin told him.

"He's happy for you both. Just be ready for Alyss to be all over your arm." Raine warned Alex.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good for now though." Alex said, holding the arm with the opposite hand.

Gilan gave a sigh of relief and smiled. "I think we should get going now. We should get there as soon as we can and everyone can get their pay. I'm gonna leave it as a surprise that Jace and Alyss are still gonna be paid too."

"I doubt they'd care if they didn't." Vivi said.

"Either way, they're not being left out."

* * *

"Nervous?"

"Fuck yes, I'm nervous. Gen never hung up on me like that before."

Jace and Alyss were waiting near the landing pad for airships two hours after Jace called everyone. They were sitting down on a bench and Jace was bouncing his leg up and down uncontrollably as he bit his bottom lip out of nervousness.

"I'm sure he'll be surprised to see you have that prosthetic." Alyss remarked.

"Yeah, no doubt. I'm worried he's gonna blame the others… He's always been protective like that…"

"You just need to explain it and I'm sure he'll understand."

Jace looked up at the sounds of an airship and he saw a bullhead coming in towards the village. "I think I'm about to find out."

After a few moments, the bullhead landed and Jace stood from the bench. The doors opened and he saw Genesis immediately step out of it with a bag over is shoulder. Jace waved with his prosthetic hand and his brother rushed over toward him. He embraced Jace in a tight hug and Jace hugged back.

"Are you okay?" Genesis asked.

"I'm fine. My arm couldn't be saved because it was so torn up," Jace replied, "I guess you can tell I already got a prosthetic…"

"Did you tell dad yet?"

"He's on his way down from Atlas to thank the person that made it for me."

Genesis stepped back and took a deep breath as he looked over to Alyss. "How… How did you guys let this happen?" He asked lowly.

"Gen..." Jace sighed

Alyss gulped as she looked down. "I-it was a Stalker… We couldn't see it until it was too late…"

"Why didn't someone shoot it!?" Genesis yelled, making her flinch, "Almost the whole group that went had guns! And there were three Rangers! So why couldn't-!"

"Don't yell at her!" Jace snapped, stepping between Alyss and Genesis, his eyes slitting and causing Genesis to step back a bit. They had never done that before, "It wasn't anyone's fault that this happened! You don't get to blame Alyss or anyone else!" He told him and lowered his voice, "It happened way too fast for anyone to react... Look, we've both accepted that something bad like this might happen when we decided to become Huntsmen. It was no one's fault."

Genesis looked down and closed his eyes for a few moments. He wrapped Jace in another hug and let out a shuddering breath as tears filled his eyes. "I-I'm s-sorry, Jace… I just never expected my little brother to lose his arm while he was going to school…"

"Neither did I, man…" Jace said, his eyes returning to their normal state.

Genesis released him and turned to hug Alyss. "I'm sorry I yelled at you…"

"It's okay," Alyss said and hugged back, "I can't imagine how it must feel for you."

"Pretty damn bad…" Genesis sighed.

They released each other and they sat down for a few minutes. "So, this is Pyne…" Genesis remarked and looked around, "I don't know what I expected when I heard the name."

"It's pretty amazing," Jace said, "Ozpin got us one of the best rooms in the hotel."

"Nice," Genesis looked at Jace's new prosthetic and whistled a bit, "That's your arm now, huh… When did it get attached?"

"This morning. It took three days for a mechanic to make it. You can meet her if she's awake."

"What do you mean ' _if_ '?"

"She pulled a few all-nighters to build it," Alyss said, "She's resting now."

Genesis nodded at the information. "I'll save it for tomorrow. Have you done anything with it yet?" He asked Jace.

"Nope. There's really nothing to do since I don't have my sword with me." Jace answered.

"Sorry I didn't get it." Alyss apologized.

"It's okay," Jace leaned over and kissed her cheek, "I don't blame you for not wanting to pack it around."

"I guess that means you can't train until you get it back." Genesis said.

"Depends… I could see if they have one in the weapon shop they could let me. How was the flight over?" Jace asked him.

"Well, my mind was pretty occupied and I wasn't shaking," Genesis replied, "I doubt it'll be that smooth on the way back."

"Is that another airship?" Alyss asked, looking in the air to see a larger ship coming toward Pyne.

Jace and Genesis followed her gaze and Jace let out a short sigh. "That would be the _Ravensword_."

"Already?" Alyss asked.

"Yep. Ironwood must've been back in Atlas for something." Genesis said.

"This is gonna be fun…" Jace groaned as the airship came closer to the village.

The _Ravensword_ landed and powered down, taking a few moments. The doors opened on its side and the small group could see Haile. He had his axe hooked on his side. He carried a huge sword in his right hand that was nearly the size of _Legacy_ , half as wide and just as long, and Jace recognized it. It was the second sword he had owned, bought from a weapon shop in Mistral when they had gone to see the tournaments there one year.

Jace and the others stood and waved him over. Haile came over to them and stuck the sword in the ground, then wrapped Jace in a tight hug. "I'm so glad that you're alright, son."

"You can thank Alyss for that," Jace replied, "Just being here helped."

Haile let go of Jace and hugged Alyss. "Then thank you, Alyss."

"I didn't really know what to do. To go with Jace or stay with the others to help," Alyss said, returning the hug, "They all decided it for me. And I _did_ promise someone that I'd stay by his side."

Haile stepped from her and he turned to give Genesis a hug as well. "Jace told me you were coming straight over. What are you gonna do about schoolwork?"

"The others are taking care of it for me for a little while." Genesis answered him, "Ozpin had a bullhead ready right after I told him."

Haile let go of Genesis and he cleared his throat. "So… that's your arm now." He said to Jace.

"Yeah. It is," Jace said as he moved it up, looking at it, "I didn't even cry when I woke up in the hospital… Alyss said I screamed when I first woke up after it… But when I woke up again… I just accepted it…"

"It's alright, Jace. I think it's just that you've been through worse than this," Haile told him, "And yes, losing a limb is a life-changing thing. We're not stupid, we all know that from common sense. But with prosthetics like this," He tapped on the arm Jace still held up, " _that_ can be normal again. With your childhood… that can never be fixed."

Jace nodded slowly and sighed. "I kinda do feel fixed, y'know? Just from the friends and the girlfriend I have, I feel normal. And with this arm, I can feel and produce heat with it. That makes me feel normal. Even if I didn't get it…" Jace gave a smile and put his arm around Alyss' shoulders, "she would make me feel normal."

"I'm letting you have a pass with being sappy just this once," Genesis gave a laugh, "It's good to know you're in great hands."

"I really am." Jace agreed.

"And so am I." Alyss added.

"So dad, why'd you bring this old thing?" Jace asked, pointing at the sword that was stuck in the ground.

Haile gave a grin. "You're not gonna be just taking it easy."

Jace sighed. "I know. I was gonna see if there was one I could use from the weapon shop later to train, but now I guess I don't have to. The weight's still gonna be off, though," He took hold of the sword's hilt and pulled it from the ground. He inspected the blade from top to bottom and grinned a bit, "I think I called this _Balor_."

Alyss raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that another word for demon or something?"

Jace laughed. "I was younger and I thought I was being cool. Leave me alone."

"When do you wanna train?" Genesis asked him.

Jace grinned. "Any time."

* * *

Later that night, Auron was sitting with his back against one of the wagons' wheels. He wished he could send a message out to Shyla, but he had to conserve his scroll's energy for if it was needed. He had a lot to talk to her about and he wanted to hear how she was doing.

 _"I think I'm fuckin' in love with her."_ He thought to himself as he smiled. It was perhaps the kindest thing any stranger had ever done for him, to give him a dance even though she didn't know him or even go to Beacon. It was that kindness that made his heart flutter when she had came back to him and asked if he still wanted that dance. He loved kindness out of a person and she had shown him so much with doing that.

"Thinking of something?"

Auron looked up to see Bell standing in front of him. "Yeah… More like some _one_ …"

Bell _hummed_ and leaned against the wagon next to him. "Is it the girl you were with at the dance?"

"Yeah. I ain't been able to talk to her lately 'cause I don't know if I'll need my scroll or not."

Bell nodded and left Auron for a few moments. She returned and handed him something. "You may use my portable charger. It uses bolt dust vials to be able to charge my scroll. I have not needed it on this mission."

Auron took it and looked at it. He looked up at her and gave a smile. "Thanks, Bell. I appreciate it."

"You do not have to thank me. I would just like for my friends to be happy." Bell said and walked back to where her team was sitting.

Auron brought out his scroll and hooked it up to the charger. He went to his contacts and found Shyla's, then he typed out a message.

 _'Hey. You up?'_

He waited a bit for a reply as he looked up at the stars. His scroll buzzed and he looked back down at it.

 _'I'm awake. How are you?'_

 _'I'm good. We kinda had a rough time out here, though. Jace, that's my leader, lost his arm.'_

 _'Oh gods, is he okay?'_

 _'He called earlier and told us he was fine. He already got a prosthetic thanks to a wagon driver's daughter.'_

 _'That's good.'_

 _'Sorry I ain't been talking to ya. I never knew when I might've needed my scroll. My friend's letting me use her portable charger so I can talk.'_

 _'It's okay. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to talk to you for a little while.'_

 _'How's things with you?'_

 _'Good. I've been working on developing new plans for a mobile artillery cannon. Like literally a cannon.'_

 _'Sounds like one of my friends would love that.'_

 _'It's kinda simple, really. It's gonna take_ _canisters of dust in the bottom and it can blast out huge, fiery cannonballs of earth and burn dust if you combine them. Or it can be a big flamethrower with two canisters of burn dust. Ice dust can let you shoot out big ice spears. I dunno about bolt or air dust though. When the prototype gets built, we'll have to see about it.'_

Auron let out a low whistle at reading all of that. _'Damn. You really get into your job, don't ya?'_

 _'You could say that. Hey, when do you think you'll be back?'_

 _'Maybe a week to a week and a half. Don't quote me on that. We'll probably stay in Pyne for a bit before we head to Beacon. Why do you ask?'_

 _'Well, I get most weekends off, so I was wondering if maybe you'd wanna go for dinner or something.'_

Auron smiled widely at the suggestion. _'Sure, I'd be glad to. Say, there anything in particular that you might like?'_


	27. Chapter 27: Normality

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

 **Normality**

Jace unevenly swung _Balor_ in a sideways arc and Genesis deflected it easily with _Standoff_. He countered and brought it up and around to bring it down toward Jace and the brown-haired teen sent his blade up to block it. Jace, used to the heavier weight of _Legacy_ , took the blade too far and _Standoff_ struck his prosthetic, causing him to jump back.

"Wanna take five?" Genesis asked.

"Sure," Jace replied and they went to the spot were Alyss and Haile were waiting, "This is freaking annoying. At least I know for sure that this thing can take a hit."

The day after Genesis and Haile arrived, Jace and his brother were training a few steps outside the village on the path. They did that to both watch for the others and to help in case the village was assaulted by Grimm. They had been out for a few hours to train Jace with his prosthetic to see if he could still fight as well as he had before.

"It looks like you're pushing the blade more with your prosthetic," Haile said to Jace, "You might be putting too much force and it's making it unbalanced."

"It doesn't feel like it though," Jace replied as Alyss handed him his bottle of water, "It feels like I'm using the same power I have with _Legacy_."

"It's kinda pretty easy to deflect your attacks now too." Genesis remarked.

"I don't know what the problem would be." Jace said in frustration before he took a drink of the ice-cold water.

"I just had a thought…" Alyss said and everyone turned their attention to her, "Jace, you said it feels like you've been putting the same power behind your swings, right?"

"More or less." Jace replied.

"What if it's the sword?" Alyss suggested, "I mean, it's not as big as _Legacy_ and I'm sure _Legacy_ is a lot heavier than _Balor_. I think you're using too much for this sword."

Jace thought about that for a few moments and sighed. "Why am I training with a sword that I never use?"

Haile shrugged. "It was worth a try. At least we know your prosthetic is good with all the movements you do."

"So now I really have to wait until the others get here so I can get _Legacy_ back," Jace sighed again, "At least that's kinda cleared up now. Thanks, Kitten." He said and kissed Alyss' cheek.

Alyss smiled and pushed her head against his shoulder. "I just wanted to be able to talk about it too and I just thought of it."

"Jace, you got yourself a smart girl," Genesis said with a smile, "Let's go back and get some food."

Jace nodded and smiled. "Maybe we can see if Hayley's awake and you guys can talk to her."

"Good. I want to show her how much I appreciate what she did." Haile said.

Jace turned back to Genesis as they walked back into the village. "She's not just smart, y'know."

"Of course I know that," Genesis replied, "I know that from how you look at her."

Jace grunted a bit. "Is it that easy to tell?"

"Yes." Both Genesis and Haile said.

Jace turned to Alyss and leaned down a bit to whisper very quietly in her ear so only she could hear. "I'll tell you everything you have besides just being smart in our room."

Alyss gave a short _hum_ of happiness. "Anything else?" She replied just as quietly.

"You'll see."

* * *

"Hey, how's the arm treating you?" Hayley asked tiredly as she stepped outside her workshop.

"Really good," Jace answered her, "Nothing's locking up or anything like that."

"Good…" Hayley yawned and covered her mouth, "Sorry about that. I'm still pretty tired. I'll be checking it before you go back to Beacon."

"Got it."

"So you're the person that made him a prosthetic for free?" Genesis asked her.

"I am. Who are you?" Hayley asked.

"I'm Genesis Galloway. His adopted brother."

"And I'm Haile Reznor," Haile introduced himself, "Their adoptive father."

"No kidding?" Hayley gave a tired grin, "Taking in a Faunus and a human must've been hard."

Haile nodded and gave a grin. "I couldn't just leave them both on the streets of Atlas."

"So, what brings you guys over to my little office today?" Hayley asked them all.

"Jace called us yesterday about what happened," Haile answered, "I came here to personally thank you for doing this for him."

Hayley looked down and rubbed the back of her neck rather embarrassedly. "I was only doing what I thought was right with what my dad told me."

"I hope you don't care for me asking, but how old are you?" Genesis asked her, "You look young."

"Fifteen. I've been working with prosthetics really since I was a kid." Hayley answered.

"Her dad says she's a prodigy with it." Alyss added.

"Yeah… that too," Hayley said, "I just got an early start and I just wanted to help my friend back then."

"That's pretty amazing." Genesis said.

"I have to give you something for helping Jace." Haile declared as he reached for his wallet.

Hayley quickly shook her head. "I gave my word that I wouldn't charge because of what happened and how bad my dad is dealing with it. He blames himself for it and we won't hear anything else. I don't want to take your lien."

"I can understand that," Haile said, "But this isn't payment for the prosthetic at all. It's a thank you, but it's also for you to buy equipment you might need to help other people."

Genesis gave a grin. "You told us you or your dad wouldn't hear anything else about blame. But dad won't hear anything else about this. He'll make you take it if you don't."

"It's true." Jace said.

"You deserve it for the work you do." Alyss said.

"Y'know… you usually get people thanking Huntsmen and doctors and people like that…" Hayley started, offering a small smile, "But there's not too much prosthetic mechanics out there and sometimes there's not too much thanks for us…"

"There isn't a whole lot of people that need prosthetics either," Alyss said, "I mean, we all know things can happen but still. If I can train more with my semblance, then there will hopefully be less people that need prosthetics," She sighed, "My semblance is healing. Sorry if I take any potential customers."

"Oh you don't have to apologize for that," Hayley assured her, "If you can't get their limbs back, then us mechanics will."

"Here you go. Please take it," Haile said as he handed a small stack of lien cards to Hayley, "And before you say anything, it's not a problem to me."

Hayley relented and slowly took the offered lien. She nodded and started counting it, then her eyes widened comically. "Three thousand!?"

"Use that to help more people," Haile told her, "That should buy you some pretty good tools from Atlas. And if our friend sees the great work you did with Jace's arm, then he might give you a call."

Hayley stared at the lien in her hand and she snapped her mouth shut. "Wh-who is it?"

Haile, Jace, and Genesis gave knowing grins. "You'll probably find out." Jace told her.

"I think we should go and let her get some more rest." Alyss suggested.

"Right," Jace agreed, "I don't want to keep my mechanic from getting enough sleep."

Hayley shoved the lien into her pocket and yawned. "Yeah, more sleep would be nice."

"Then we'll let you get to it," Genesis said, then gave a bit of a smirk, "Oh and if you have someone you like and you're nervous to tell them, I got some advice."

"What would that be?" Hayley asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You might regret it I you don't," Genesis said, "That's my thanks to you for helping this love-struck kitten."

"Shut up, Gen." Jace groaned.

"I'll… keep it in mind. See you guys later." Hayley bid them farewell.

They left the mechanic's workshop and walked around the village for a little while. Both Jace and Alyss were a bit nervous about how their friends were doing. They haven't received any word from them other than when Jace had called the day before. They could only assume they were safe and Jace didn't want to call and distract them.

"Wonder how they're doing." Jace said almost to himself.

"I'm sure Grimm aren't gonna be attracted to them since you called and let them know you're okay." Alyss said.

"You… You don't blame them… do you, dad?" Jace asked his father.

"I don't see why I would," Haile replied, "Things happen. And then there's things you can't change, like this. If I blamed everyone else, then I'd have to blame myself for letting you do all of this in the first place. It _did_ hurt to hear that you lost your arm. Something would be wrong with me if I didn't feel anything about it. But I can't and I won't blame anyone. It's no one's fault."

Jace nodded slowly and gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, dad."

"I'm still really sorry for yelling, Alyss." Genesis said.

Alyss sighed good-naturedly. "It's okay. I mean… if I had a brother or sister, I wouldn't know how I'd react to this happening. All we can do is be glad it got taken care of already and it wasn't worse."

Haile reached and put a hand on her shoulder. "Jace is lucky to have you."

"I feel lucky to have him too."

Jace kissed her on the cheek and looked at their clasped hands. "How does it feel to hold it?" He asked her.

"What do you…?" Alyss looked down to where he was looking, "Oh. It feels…" She thought aboit it for a moment, "Other than the metal on the outsides of your fingers, it feels pretty normal with the synthetic skin. But I don't mind that. And that bit of metal I touch isn't cold at all. How's it feel for you?"

"Like I said before, it feels like I never lost it," Jace replied, "I really can't thank Hayley enough. I'm gonna make damn sure this doesn't happen to you or the others."

"Just work on spending your time together," Haile told them, "I checked the local board for missions earlier and I saw a pretty interesting one."

"What was it?" Genesis asked him.

"It has to do with exterminating Stalkers around the south-west part of Vale. I accepted it. I figured I might ask the Ranger in Calm for help." Haile said with a grin.

Jace clenched his teeth shut at the mention of the Grimm. "If you do, be really careful. I didn't even hear it coming up behind me…"

"Don't worry about that, son. I'll be careful."

"We met that Ranger," Alyss said, "He's Raine's dad. Maybe if you ask, her uncle can help too."

"I might just do that."

"When do you go on it?" Jace asked.

"In a few days. I'm gonna take a bullhead over to Calm and ask Halt. And if they get here in time, I might ask… Gilan's his name, right?" Jace and Alyss nodded, "I'll ask him and we'll go to Calm if he accepts, then I'll ask Halt. Then if _he_ accepts, we'll be searching the border and deep into the forests. I know we won't get it done in one go, and there's gonna be more missions set out to take them out of Vale. Rangers are great for this sort of thing."

"Raine said their senses are trained more," Alyss said, "But they didn't even know until it was too late."

"I'm not that worried about that," Haile gave a grin, "We know they're here now and we'll be looking for them. It's gonna be a whole lot more different than the one you saw."

* * *

"We never really paid attention to the stars when we were on the road…" Jace murmured to Alyss that night, "I'm glad we get to now."

"Me too. They're really pretty." Alyss replied.

They laid in the grass in a small clearing just outside Pyne. Jace had _Balor_ with him, stuck in the ground next to them, in case any Grimm showed up. Since it was so close to a village, that seemed doubtful. Alyss had her hair down and it was spread all over the ground behind her head, and Jace's was the same.

"It's a lot different than the dance when we were outside," Alyss said, "I can see so much more stars."

"Yeah, it's really pretty," Jace agreed with her, "But it's not the prettiest thing I've ever seen."

"What would that be?"

Jace turned his head and grinned at her. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Maybe not, but it's still nice to hear." Alyss said, turning her head to face him.

"How should it put it…" Jace pursed his lips in thought, "Oh! I got it! You're the prettiest, most beautiful girl in the world to me. Not even the stars above us are-"

Alyss silenced him with a soft kiss. "You're so sweet, Jace."

"You didn't even let me finish," Jace laughed, "I guess I got my point across," He said and returned her kiss, "I was gonna say that the stars aren't nearly as pretty as you and your eyes and you'll always be my adorable Kitty Cat."

"And you'll always be mine," Alyss smiled and turned over, draping her arm over his chest. She rubbed her head against his shoulder, "Can we go back to the hotel?"

"Sure. Why?" Jace asked her.

"There's… something I want to talk about and I wanna say it where I'm sure no one can really listen."

"Okay… Let's go." Jace said, nervous about what she wanted to discuss with him.

* * *

"Real pretty night out, huh?" Alex asked Aulin.

"Yeah, it is." Aulin answered simply.

They, like the two cat Faunus in Pyne, were just watching the stars. They laid in the back of one of the wagons, just holding hands. Alex's arm was back to one-hundred percent and he was glad he didn't feel any bit of pain in it, plus he could hold Aulin's hand with it now. They were only two days away from their destination and Grimm were not likely to attack them again.

"How long have you been holding that in?" Alex asked, "Y'know, that you love me."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't already a bit attracted to you since you were an orphan. Because we're kinda the same like that," Aulin gave a short laugh, "Same with Bell. I tried to impress her and tried to date her, but she told me she wasn't interested an any relationship at all. Like asexual or something. I usually hit on everyone, trying to see if someone would maybe do it back and get something good to hold. The people that usually did that were assholes who only wanted me for my looks, and those little moments didn't last long…"

Aulin sighed. "Maybe that wasn't the best way to find a good guy or girl, but it was really the only way I knew how to do it. It's… kinda how I coped with being alone, weird as it sounds."

"That doesn't sound too weird to me," Alex said, "I guess you just wanted friends, right?"

Aulin nodded and pressed herself closer to Alex. "Yeah, but hardly anyone wanted anything to do with an orphan that just hit on people."

Alex sighed at that. "Hardly anyone wanted anything to do with an orphan to begin with. Especially in Atlas."

"All that changed when I got to Beacon," Aulin smiled, "I met Raine before we took initiation and we got to be fast friends. Hit on her, she just straight up told me ' _no_ '. Took me a bit to find out exactly why she wasn't interested when she told me how she was."

"You found the reason in the form of a cat Faunus Ranger, right?" Alex asked.

Aulin nodded. "Yeah. Then I met Inu in the forest when we had to get the artifacts, and he was just awesome about me being an orphan. Hit on him, kinda the same as Bell," Aulin chuckled, "He said for now, though. He doesn't fully know yet. Then we were teamed with Barrett and Bell and I found out Bell was an orphan. They were friendly as hell and then I met team RWBY. Weiss was honestly a bitch at first but she started toning down her attitude over time."

"She wasn't that bad." Alex remarked.

"Oh she was. Trust me," Aulin shook her head at remembering back to the beginning of Beacon, "It just seemed like she hated everything. She barely even tolerated me so I stayed away from her until she cooled down. Me and Yang hit on each other all the time, which is fun. Ruby's a really kind girl and Blake sympathized with me since she said her parents probably didn't care what happened to her now. Then I met team JNPR, Alyss, Jace, Auron, and team SHRA. Beacon is fucking awesome."

"It seriously is," Alex agreed with her, "One of the first people I met here blame my girlfriend and hell, one of the first turned out to be my brother. I'm glad my old team was shit or I wouldn't have come here."

"We kinda got off track from what you asked," Aulin laughed, "What was it again?"

Alex laughed as well. "I asked how long you've been holding it in that you loved me."

"Ah, let me think a second," Aulin tilted her head, leaning it against Alex's shoulder, "Probably back when you first got to Beacon, really. I hit on you, then you hit on me, and we went back and forth and I think that ran Bell and Inu out of the room. And you were really nice after we were tired of doing that. I started feeling something for you then. I still remember that look on your face when I told you someone you haven't met yet wanted to talk to you."

"I was fucking confused," Alex said, "I was thinking, _"_ _I just got here, what the hell did I do?"_ I'm glad it turned out how it did."

"Yeah, both of you really had to talk," Aulin replied, "And then when the dance happened, I asked you to be my date. You're the first I thought of to ask and then it just felt so awesome to dance with you. I never knew how to say it until that Armaddon."

Alex took the explanation in and smiled widely. "I never thought I had a chance in hell that you'd wanna go out with me."

"You'd better believe it 'cuz it's happening, sweetheart," Aulin giggled, "What about you? When did you find out you loved me?"

"When you asked me to the dance. No one else asked me, but you did. You were nice enough to stick by my side like a fellow orphan and it made me feel great," Alex answered sincerely, "I never had that in Atlas. No family, absolutely no friends, and no one I was interested in."

"I'm sure if you knew 'em, Jace and Gen would've been your friends."

"Probably, but I'm better knowing that they're my brothers. When I heard you say what you did after the Armaddon broke my arm, I didn't know what to think. I'm seriously fucking glad that happened."

Aulin yawned and stretched her arms. "I think we should get some shut-eye. Gotta wake up early and get on the road again."

Alex nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I wanna get to Pyne and make sure Jace is alright myself. Plus we can relax."

"That'll be nice. Where's the cover at? I'm not sleeping on the ground."

Alex grabbed it from behind himself and draped it over them both. "We gonna start sleeping in the same bed?"

Aulin smiled and kissed him. "You know it."

* * *

"Alright..." Jace sat out on the balcony of the hotel room with Alyss, watching the fireflies light up the air around them, "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"A-About the other night... When we had sex..." Alyss began nervously.

Jace felt a bit of worry in the pit of his stomach. "I didn't do anything bad... did I?" He asked in almost a whimper.

Alyss quickly shook her head. "N-no! You didn't do anything wrong!" She assured him, "I was kinda worried that I might've done something wrong..."

Jace let out a breath he kept in his lungs. "No, you didn't do anything bad either... I woke up the next morning and saw the scratches and stuff on you and it worried me. I didn't really fully know every part of our insticts for that."

"I thought you read about that stuff though?"

"Well, I did..." Jace rubbed the back of his neck uneasily, "It only said stuff about instincts, not really all the scratching. Or biting. Come to think of it, I don't even know if those books were meant for other Faunus to read or if they were written to help humans understand Faunus mating and stuff. I don't guess they'd wanna tell humans about the real intimate stuff. They'd probably be called animals more than what they are."

Alyss let out a short sigh. "You really don't wanna see yourself as a Faunus... do you?"

"Huh? What brought that up?"

"You keep saying _"_ _they"_..."

"Oh..." Jace sighed and his ears pressed back a bit, "I never cared that I grew ears and a tail... And I love having the senses and urges and instincts. I love my ears being scritched and I love it when you do that and rub my tail... I just really hate how it happened. That's why I don't want to put myself in the same race as Faunus. Deep down... I'm still human and I'll always be human. But I'm Faunus too now. It's still weird to me after ten years..."

"You're not weird to me at all," Alyss told him, turning in her seat to look at him, "I keep saying that you're _you_ and I mean that. You have a human heart but you're Faunus like any other now. And you know I'll love you no matter what, don't you?"

"And I'll love you too. No matter what." Jace told her, turning in his seat to look into her emerald and sapphire orbs with his own ruby red.

Alyss smiled at him and closed her eyes. "I'm so happy you're okay after losing your arm."

Jace gave a small smile. "It's because of you that I am, you know."

"So you keep saying." Alyss giggled.

"It's true. I doubt I'd be doing this well if it wasn't for you."

Alyss crawled over the arm of the chairs and into Jace's lap. She kissed him softly in the lips and hugged him. "I can't wait to tell mom that we're together. She'll be so happy that I actually confessed to you."

Jace titled his head. "Confessed what?"

"That I love you. I told her about my feelings for you when we stayed at our house."

"Really?" Jace started laughing and it was Alyss' turn to tilt her head.

"What's so funny?"

"I talked to her too," Jace stopped laughing and smiled widely, "I told her my feelings for you and she said for me to figure out my feelings and see if they're real. So... she knew we were both in love."

"Seems like it," Alyss laughed, "Why didn't she just tell us? Would've made it easier."

"I think she wanted to protect you," Jace said, "I don't think she wanted us to rush into it, then risk it hurting you if it didn't work out. I think she just wants to look out for her little cub."

Alyss _hummed_ and rubbed the side of her head against the side of his. "I still am."

Jade _purred_ and moved his head as well. "And I'm your Kitten."

"And I'm yours."


	28. Chapter 28: Celebration

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

 **Celebration**

"Did you bring our jerky?" Jace asked Alyss.

Alyss sighed. "I think you know..."

Jace _hummed_. "…As team leader, I'm ordering Auron to make more when we get back."

"What jerky are you talking about?" Genesis asked them.

"It's like heaven in your mouth, except if heaven in your mouth wasn't already cherries." Alyss told him.

"...What...?" Genesis asked, a bit confused at what he heard.

"She loves cherries." Jace told him.

"I guess we'll know that now," Haile laughed, "Cherries and apples. Weird combination."

The group of four were sitting just outside the village near one of the large columns that signaled the boundary of the village. Jace had received a message from Raine that the caravan would arrive sometime that day and Jace wanted to meet with them first thing. Alyss was sitting, more like laying, in his lap and he had his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Are you saying that I can potentially bribe you?" Genesis remarked with a grin after a few moments.

"Depends on the amount of cherries you give me." Alyss said, giving a bit of a smirk.

Jade reached his hand up and scritched her ears, immediately drawing a series of _purrs_ from her. "Don't humor him."

Alyss turned in his arms and kissed him. "Only if you keep doing this."

"Deal."

They sat in the shade of the trees mostly in silence, besides the purrs that came from Alyss. The sounds of it put Genesis nearly to sleep. That was aided by the fact there was a stream of water running in a wide ditch next to them, the sound equally as soothing as the purring.

"I think I see something coming." Haile said.

Jace looked up past Alyss' shoulder and saw a small black dot a ways down the road. "Think that's them?" He asked.

"Should I act like I'm mad at them?" Genesis asked with a tired grin.

Jace sighed. "No, you shouldn't. Don't be an ass."

"Just kidding, Jace." Genesis patted him on the shoulder.

"I don't think playing angry would be too appropriate." Alyss said.

"Yeah... I know," Genesis replied, "It would be in bad taste, considering everything."

"Hey, is that them?" Hayley asked, stopping to sit next to them.

"Should be..." Jace said, "I think I see someone waving now."

Hayley grinned and looked over at Jace's arm. "Those fingernails feel good, Alyss?"

"Very much so. It's the greatest part of the arm." Alyss told her.

"Great for other things too, am I right?" Genesis said, winking at the couple.

"Hey Gen?" Jace said, shooting Genesis a glare.

"Yeah?"

"Shut it."

"Dont start fighting," Haile chuckled, "Two on one isn't a fair fight."

"What do you mean, _two on one_?" Genesis asked.

"He means I'm gonna claw your face off of you keep it up." Alyss warned him.

"You're too nice for that, Aly." Jace chuckled.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

Jace looked back at his brother. "But I will."

Genesis raised his hands defensively. "Fine, fine!" He shook his head, "Nika wouldn't be a fan of that, probably."

"What, are you dating now?" Jace asked him.

"Yep! Have been for a week."

"You two need to slow it down. You're growing up on me." Haile laughed.

"I _have_ been going slow. What are you talking about?" Jace said with a grin.

"Hey! Jace!"

Jace turned his attention back to the road and the dot has turned into two horses drawing a wagon behind them. In the seat of the wagon was a grass-green haired woman and a young fox Faunus, who was standing up and waving at them. Everyone rose from where they were sitting and waved back at them. After a few moments, Jace and Alyss ran down the road to them.

Raine jumped down from the wagon and met them halfway, wrapping them both in a hug as best her small body would allow. "Gods, I'm glad to see you're both okay."

"You too, Raine," Jace said, "How have you guys been?"

"Pretty good. Grimm steered clear of us for the most part after you called," Raine let go of both of them and have a sigh of relief, "So... that's your arm now?"

Jace chuckled. "I'm pretty sure that's what dad and Gen asked. But yeah. It's my arm."

"How's Alex's arm?" Alyss asked.

"Better. You shouldn't need to do anything." Raine told her.

"Jace!" Auron called out and ran toward them.

"Hey Auron!" Jace called back.

He stopped next to them and gave them both a strong hug. He released them and smiled. "How are ya?"

Jade raised his prosthetic and put up devil horns with the fingers. "Fully armed." He grinned.

Everyone groaned at that. "I'm sure Yang'll just _love_ that answer..." Auron shook his head, "Good that you're good."

Jace placed his hand between Alyss' ears and rubbed gently. "Thanks to her."

Alyss _purred_ and pushed her head against his hand. "Hayley helped too."

"She helped my body. You helped my mind." Jace smiled at her.

"Where'd the bow come from?" Raine asked Alyss.

"Jace got it for me," Alyss said with a smile, "How's it look?"

"Pretty."

"Thanks. Where are Alex and Aulin? I thought they'd be seeing Jace too."

"Hell, they're asleep in the middle wagon," Auron answered her, "They stayed up half the night just talkin' with each other."

Raine scoffed. "And _you_ didn't stay up to talk to Shyla?"

Auron shrugged. "I didn't stay up as long as them."

Vivi trotted her horse up to them and grinned. "So, our injured warrior is fixed up?"

Jace grinned back. "I'm all good."

"Good to know," Vivi swung down from the horse and gave Raine a short kiss, "This one is gonna go on ahead. She needs to let the mayor know we arrived."

"Okay. Have fun, Big Kitty." Raine smiled.

"I'll try, Little Fox." Vivi replied and walked on.

"Be sure to introduce yourself to dad and Gen!" Jace called to her as the first wagon rolled past them.

"Good to see you're okay, man." Jess said to Jace and went on.

Jace looked at his team and gave a grin. "I'm gonna go wake the lovebirds."

Alyss giggled. "I'm coming too."

They ran off toward the next cart and Eli waved at them. "Hey there. Feelin' alright?"

"Yeah. I'm feeling pretty good," Jace told him, "I was gonna wake Alex and Aulin up."

Eli grinned. "Have at it."

Jace and Alyss jumped up on the wagon and stepped into the back where the two were laying peacefully under a cover. Jace and Alyss waved back at Gilan and the ones on the last wagon and they say down on the side, looking down at the couple.

Jace nudged Alex's shoulder. "Alleeeexx... Wake up, Alex," Alex mumbled something and pulled himself tighter against Aulin's body. Jace shook his head, "Alex, wake up." He said louder and leaned down to poke Alex on the cheek.

Alex groaned and cracked an eye open. They widened as he stared up at Jace and Alyss. "Holy shit, it's good to see you!"

"Right back at ya." Jace replied.

Aulin groaned and opened her eyes, giving a small grin. "Bet you're wonderin' why we're sleepin' together... right?"

Alyss shook her head. "Remember? Raine told Jace when he called."

"Oh yeah... My mind doesn't work when I'm tired," Aulin sat up and yawned. "It's good seeing you two again. Sexy arm." She said, pointing to Jace's prosthetic.

"Thanks," Jace laughed at the compliment, "Aly says the scritches are awesome with it."

"I'd say there's three more people that want to talk to you." Gilan said, bringing his horse to the side of the wagon.

"And it's one last person I need to thank," Jace said, "But first..." He reached into his bag on the side of the wagon and produced an apple. He took a large bite of it and _hummed_ in delight, "Gods, it's been _sooo_ long since I ate one of these."

"I tried to keep them cool with ice dust for you so they didn't ruin." Eli told him.

"Thanks, Eli. You're awesome."

Eli shrugged. "Tryin' my best."

"Let me see your arm." Alyss ordered Alex.

He waved it off. "It's fine. Vivi and Gilan took care of-"

"Let me see it... _n_ _ow_." Alyss said more firmly.

Alex gulped a bit and relented, holding his arm out to her. "You really don't have to worry."

"I'm making sure." Alyss said and pressed her palms against his forearm. She began pulsing her semblance into it as her hands glowed purple. After a few moments, she stopped.

"Alright. Now it's alright."

"Thanks." Alex said, shaking his head.

"Let's go talk to the others now." Jace said to Alyss after he finished off his apple and stood up.

"Right," Alyss stood with him, "You two have fun with your relationship."

"Trust me, Kitten. We will." Aulin grinned.

Jace unhooked his sword and harness from the wagon and fixed it where it belonged on his back. He and Alyss jumped from the wagon and walked toward the last, where Bell and Inuvali were jumping down to go meet them.

Bell immediately hugged them both. "It is such a relief that you are well." She said.

"You too, Bell," Alyss replied, "I hope we didn't worry you too much."

"I had faith that you would be alright. And it seems you are."

"We really are. In more ways than one," Jace said with a smile, "Alyss makes me feel normal. I don't care that I lost my arm. I don't care that I went through that as a kid. As long as I'm with this amazing girl," He kissed Alyss on the cheek, "then I don't care what happens to me."

Bell smiled. "That is a sweet thing to say."

"...And very sappy," Inuvali remarked, "Still, I'm glad you're recovering fast."

"Thanks Inu. It's easier to get better with friends like you guys."

Bell and Inuvali walked on toward the village and the two Faunus walked on toward the last person. Jace could already tell that he looked nervous.

"Hey Braxton. Doing okay?" Jace asked the burly man.

He nodded. "I am. What about you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. Hayley did a great job with the prosthetic. Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?" Braxton lowered his head as the couple jumped on the wagon so he could keep it going, "I caused this."

Jace sighed. " _You_ didn't cause this. A Stalker did."

"It was my attitude that attracted them to us, though."

"I don't blame you, Braxton. It could have happened either way. It's in the past and I can't focus on it. If it wasn't for you, I don't know if I would have got a prosthetic as great as this."

Braxton sighed. "You should be thanking my daughter."

"She did the work and built it, I know. And I thanked her," Jace told him, "But you sent word to her and she went out of her way to help. If it wasn't for you, I'd still have one arm and Hayley would have had no idea who I am probably until a few weeks or months from now. I have to thank you as much as I do her."

"I don't know if I can accept that it wasn't my fault," Braxton said somberly, "But it means a lot that you don't blame me. I'm pretty sure Auron does."

"I'll probably talk with him sometime about it."

"Even so, I _did_ say you all were only doing this for the tourism. I think it struck a nerve with every one of you there."

"I don't have enough time right now since you're about to be hit with more ' _thank you_ 's," Jace said, looking to where his father and brother were walking toward them, "But later, me and them, we're gonna tell you why I'm doing this. The others can join in if they want."

* * *

"You... All of that happened to you?" Braxton asked in shock and complete confusion.

Jace raised to hand up and flared burn dust through it, setting it ablaze. He stopped doing that and sent ice dust through it, chilling the air around it. Genesis did the same, cycling between ice and bolt dust. "Every type of known dust is inside us..." Jace said as he, Braxton, Hayley, Genesis, and Haile were in Jace and Alyss' hotel room. Alyss was catching up with Bell and Aulin in the room they had for their team.

"I'm a cat Faunus because of what they did to me. Genesis didn't change like I have. After I was adopted, they put me in a school and I hung out with a cat Faunus a lot because he didn't have any friends and I think my DNA reacted with his scent and it changed my looks. That's where the ears came from and those people put me on the street..."

"Then he grew his tail and I found him." Haile said.

Jace shook his head. "I got way off point... I'm doing this for them. _We_ are doing this for them. All the people that were used for experiments before we were saved."

"'We're fighting as their legacy, even though we had no idea who they were," Genesis said, conveying every bit of his determination in his voice, "That's why we're training to be Huntsmen. And we're fighting to keep that from happening to anyone else."

"I'm... sorry I said that before..." Braxton sighed, looking at Jace with an apologetic look, "All of you made it seem like you wanted to just see a village rather than help and I overreacted."

"And I forgive you for that." Jace assured him.

"Makes me really glad I made that arm for free," Hayley remarked, "Even if dad didn't feel horrible, I'd still do it if I knew that."

"I appreciate the thought." Jace said with a short nod.

"And so does my wallet." Haile said, causing everyone to laugh.

There was a knock on the door and Jace stood up to go answer it. He opened it and Auron was standing there, holding a bag. "Here's your jerky. Aly left in a hurry."

"Yeah, she told me," Jace said and took the bag, feeling the weight of it, "Seems heavier than what I remember."

"Well, we all pitched in a couple pieces from our bags to give. I'm definitely makin' more when we get back. You're gettin' a lot more."

"Sounds awesome."

"Before I go, we're plannin' a bit of a celebration at the bar tomorrow night," Auron grinned, "Interested?"

Jace nodded quickly. "Hell yeah, I am."

"Can I come too?" Genesis asked, "I mean, I didn't do anything for the mission, but I wanna have fun."

"Sure. You're welcome to come." Auron answered him.

"Don't you think you should ask your father before you decide to go drinking?" Haile asked them.

"Hey dad, can I go drinking with my friends?" Jace asked.

"Can I go too?" Genesis asked, "Please?"

Haile rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can go. Just don't overdo it."

"Got it." The two replied.

* * *

"Time for your pay!" Gilan called to the group of teens and Vivi.

Everyone cheered, raising glasses and bottles of their prefered drinks for the night. "I dunno why I'm cheering but I am anyway!" Genesis laughed, then took another drink of his double-chocolate vodka.

Gilan shook his head in amusement and handed out envelopes to everyone except Genesis. Jace hesitated to take his. "I barely did anything...You guys actually got the wagons here."

"What happened was a horrible on-the-job accident," Vivi told him, "It would be unfair to take away your pay just because you were injured. So, both you and Alyss are getting paid as much as everyone else."

Jace slowly took the envelope and smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," Gilan said, "We can stay for another day after tonight. Then it's back off to Beacon. For now, enjoy yourselves but don't get black-out drunk if you're getting drunk," He looked at Raine and grinned, "Don't tell Halt."

"Lips are sealed." Raine laughed.

"Yes they are." Vivi _purred_ and kissed her on the lips.

Raine _hummed_ and returned it eagerly, throwing her arms around the older Faunus' shoulders. Gilan laughed at the display. "Well, they're busy. I'm going to meet with someone about a mission. I'm sure the three brothers here know him pretty well. Have fun." He said and departed the bar.

"Hey! Y'all quit eatin' each other's face!" Auron exclaimed light-heartedly, "Some of us ain't got someone to kiss!"

"Well in that case..." Aulin said in a sultry tone and pulled Alex close to her, kissing him hard on the lips.

The two fell over in their seat and Alex wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Auron narrowed his eyes at them. "You tryin' to get me riled up?"

Aulin pulled back from Alex long enough to give an answer. "Yes and no." She laughed and continued assaulting Alex with kisses.

"Not my choice, Auron!" Alex called out between kisses, "But I'm not stopping!"

Auron shook his head and grinned. "At least you two ain't all over each other like that." He said to Alyss and Jace.

"We like to save that for when we're alone." Jace said.

"Although it _is_ nice to just.. let loose like that..." Alyss _purred_ and kissed the side of Jace's neck.

Jace closed his eyes and breathed deeply, enjoying that feeling immensly. "Did you have too much of your cherry sunrise?" He asked jokingly.

"I've drank just as much as mine as you have yours... Or more, I dunno." Alyss _purred_ again and rubbed her head against him, her face a bit flushed.

"I believe she has already had four." Bell said, sipping on water.

Alyss shrugged and stuck her tongue out at her. "Cherries are the best. I can't help it when I can finally drink these again. They're ffffucking awesome."

Bell gasped at hearing that. "Alyss! I am surprised at you! You never curse!"

Alyss just shrugged. "Sorry Belly. They're just... awesome."

"You might wanna try this before you say that," Genesis grinned, holding out his bottle of vodka, "This stuff is freakin' awesome."

"Give it here," Jace said and reached for it. He took it and took a big sniff of it, eyes widening and then closing as he took a deeper sniff, "This smells amazing..."

"Probably smells better to you since you havebetter sense of smell than me. Take a big drink of it." Genesis said with a grin.

"If it tastes as good as it smells, then you might not get it back." Jace warned him.

He took a small drink of it and kept it in his mouth for a few moments, getting a taste for it. He loved it. He swallowed the mouthful of it and put the bottle up to his lips again, taking an even bigger drink of it. Everyone looked at Jace with different expressions. Most was of amusement, namely from Genesis and Auron. Alyss looked at him curiously, tilting her head with one ear standing erect and the other flattened out to the side. Raine and Vivi didn't show any different expression. Bell looked a bit worried and Inuvali looked indifferent to it as he sipped on his water. Alex and Aulin paid no attention for the moment.

"Umm…" Genesis' grin grew smaller as Jace just kept chugging, "Jace, slow down."

"Damn, look at 'im go…" Auron said before taking a drink of his Broken Skull beer.

"I do not think he should be drinking like that." Bell said, sipping on her water.

"I don't think so either." Inuvali agreed.

Aulin stopped assaulting Alex with her lips and watched Jace. "If he don't pass out, then I'm giving him a hundred lien." She said, watching intently.

"Jace, you're overdoing it," Genesis said to his brother, almost ready to smack the bottle from his hand, "You're gonna fuck yourself up."

After a few moments, Jace finished off the bottle and took a deep breath. "Holy _gods_ , that's amazing."

"How do you feel?" Alex asked him, "You drank almost a whole bottle of vodka."

"I feel fine," Jace replied, "I don't guess that's normal, is it?"

"No, it isn't," Vivi said, "You should probably be pretty drunk right now. Stand up."

Jace complied, much to Alyss' protests as she clung to his arm for a moment, and he stood up. He stood there for a few moments, waiting a few moments for something to happen that never did. "I think it's safe to say I'm not drunk. Where's my hundred lien?" He grinned at Aulin.

Aulin pouted, crossing her arms. "Damn it. Me and my big mouth."

Jace sat back down and Alyss latched back onto his arm. "I wanna taste now."

"Too bad," Genesis said, "Jace drank my whole bottle!"

"Get another one!" Jace countered, "It's your fault for giving-mmph!"

Alyss jumped into his lap, planting her lips against his. She pushed her tongue into his mouth and Jace closed his eyes, just letting Alyss' tongue explore. Alyss _hummed_ into his mouth and pulled back, her eyes slitted. "Oh I tasted it. I like it."

Aulin whistled at what she saw and grinned. "You gonna say anything to that, Auron?"

Auron shook his head. "Shut it an' pay Jace his lien. I'm tired o' not bein' listened to tonight." He grumbled and drank his beer.


	29. Chapter 29: Return

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

 **Return**

"Alrighty. Your arm's all good to go," Hayley told Jace, "Take good care of it and it'll do everything you need it to."

"Got it. Thanks again." Jace said to her.

A full day and night after their celebration, JKDW, SLVR and Genesis were about to return to Beacon. Their night was filled with laughs, light-hearted jokes, alcohol-fueled kissing in the couples of the group, and a game to see how much Jace could drink, something Genesis wasn't a fan of. After Jace had gained two hundred lien from bets on when he would pass out, which he never did, they had theorized that he could not get drunk due to the dust inside of him which neutralized it much like it did to keep him from getting sick. Jace had received countless kisses from Alyss so she could taste what the drinks tasted like, which her favorite was a type of cherry vodka Jace tried. _That_ kiss lasted more than just a few seconds, and it also turned into Jace's favorite drink as well.

They all had enjoyed themselves, some in more ways than one.

"I'll remind him to oil the joints and stuff every week or so to be safe." Alyss assured Hayley.

"And I'll tell our friend when he asks about it." Jace said.

"I guess I'll be surprised if he happens to show up in Calm," Hayley said, "See you both later. Take care of yourselves."

"You too, Hayley."

Jace and Alyss left the mechanic's workshop and slowly walked toward the airdocks, enjoying their last moments in the quiet, peaceful, and beautiful village of Pyne. Alyss had a rough day after their party, dealing with a hangover from one too many cherry sunrises. As Bell said, before Jace had even drank Genesis' vodka, she had been through four large glasses of her favorite drink along with Jace drinking a couple of his own. She wouldn't be telling her mother about that anytime soon.

"Despite what happened with my arm, this mission was great." Jace said.

"Yeah, it was. I just wish we could've done more to help." Alyss replied.

"Me too, Kitten. But after this, I think I heard from Coco that we could go on more through the year after this first one. We can help then if we go. Maybe without the loss of my arm this time."

"That would definitely be better, but I'd rather wait until they actually have us go on missions." Alyss said.

They finally arrived at the airdocks and Haile was there to see them off. He have them both a hug and rubbed both their ears, causing both of them to _purr_. "Stay safe, kids. Please don't give me a heart attack and lose something else."

Jace grinned and laughed. "I won't. I promise."

"I'll make sure of that." Alyss assured him.

"Good," Haile released them both and sighed, "I guess I'll see you later, Jace. Be careful, behave yourself, and have fun."

"I will. See you later, dad."

Jace and Alyss stepped onto the large bullhead and Gilan poked his head from the open doors. "I'll be back here as soon as we give our report. Then we can go see Halt."

Haile nodded. "Alright. I look forward to helping Emowyn's uncle and hopefully her dad too."

Gilan nodded back with a grin and closed the doors, then he took a seat. "Alright, I don't think you all have to go meet Ozpin or anything. But he might want to talk to you, Jace." He said and the bullhead took off slowly into the air.

Jace nodded. "Same with Ironwood, probably. People think he's so stern and doesn't bother with a lot of people, but he cares and he's protective of his students even if they're former students."

"I think that's a reason dad likes working for him." Genesis remarked through gritted teeth as he clenched his eyes shut.

"I guess he'll probably want to see if you're alright himself." Raine said.

Jace shrugged. "Maybe if he's not too busy."

"I know exactly what I'm doin' when we get back." Auron said for himself.

"What would that be?" Alex asked him.

"Making jerky?" Aulin suggested.

"Yep. Then tomorrow, I'm hangin' out with Shyla."

* * *

The bullhead landed at Beacon's airdocks and the doors opened, much to Genesis' relief. They looked out and saw Ozpin standing a small distance away, then he started walking toward them. The bullhead powered down and everyone stepped out of it. When Ozpin arrived, he gave a smile to them.

"With you returning, that is every freshman accounted for. Mister Daturas, miss Strife, if you'll wait in my office I will be with you shortly," The two Rangers nodded and left the group, "And if you all don't mind, I would like to speak with Jace for a moment."

Everyone left them, with Alyss giving Jace a quick kiss on the cheek, and Jace gave Ozpin a smile of his own. "Thank you for letting me stay here, sir. It means a lot to me."

"You don't have to thank me. You have miss Timber to truly thank, but I'm sure you already have more than enough," Ozpin looked over the prosthetic arm and nodded, "It seems she did an excellent job. I'm glad it was built so quickly."

"Me too sir. Does Ironwood know we're back?"

Ozpin nodded. "He does, but he has been busy helping with security for the festival. With Stalkers on the loose in the kingdom, I asked for a bit of assistance to make sure things are safe.

"My dad and a couple of Rangers are gonna take care of some of them around Pyne and Calm. I just hope they're careful."

"I have faith that they will be," Ozpin said, "I have to ask, how are you taking this?"

"I had a hard time accepting that I accepted it so easily if that makes sense," Jace replied, sighing a bit, "Dad said it's nothing like what I've been through because this arm makes it normal with how I can feel and produce heat for it. But... the main reason I'm okay is because of Alyss. With everything I told her about what happened to me, she makes me feel normal. I'm okay."

Ozpin smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I am glad to hear it. Now, go to your dorm and rest. After your flight and the explanations you'll have to give in the near future, I'm sure you will need it."

* * *

"I am _sooo_ glad to be back in my own bed…" Jace sighed and fell back in it, splaying his arms out. Auron was already fast at work with preparing jerky and the other three of the team just went to their room.

"Are you just gonna lay there all day?" Alyss asked him.

"I will of you lay with me." Jace replied, holding a hand out to her.

Alyss shook her head. "You know we'll have to get food later."

Jace sighed. "I know... I wonder if Tyr and the others know about this yet..." He said, raising his prosthetic arm and looking at its palm.

"Depends on if Gen's team had to say why he wasn't here for a week." Raine said.

"Yeah... I might go get that out of the way, actually."

"When do you wanna do that?" Alyss asked him.

"Right now before I get lazy and forget." Jace said, standing up from his bed.

"Want some company?"

Jace grinned. "Of course. Both of you can come if you want."

Raine shook her head. "I'm good. I'm tired, so I might just take a nap."

"Alright. See you later, then." Jace said, then he and Alyss left the room.

When they shut the door and looked down the hall, they saw General Ironwood appear at the other end at the stairs, flanked by two of his men. Jace and Alyss walked down the hall and met Ironwood halfway. "Hello sir. How are you doing?" Jace asked him.

"I'm... well, considering the news of what happened to a former student," Ironwood replied, "I didn't know Stalkers were in Vale. I... I wish I would have known so I could have had a warning out in the mission description," His gaze dropped to Jace's prosthetic, "That looks very impressive. May I take a closer look?"

Jace nodded and held the arm out. "I don't mind. I figured you'd want to see it since you have prosthetics too."

"How did you know that?" Ironwood asked as he looked over Jace's arm.

"Ozpin said something about it when I was in the hospital in Pyne." Jace replied.

"This is very well made. I know you couldn't have received it from Atlas in such a short amount of time..." Ironwood said, marveling at the craftsmanship of it, "I can feel heat through the metal..."

"It has a heating element in the shoulder. It can produce heat and let me feel too. I can feel things all the way up to the shoulder..." Jace heard doors opening and he looked to the left, seeing the doors of RWBY and JNPR open with Ruby and Nora poking their heads out of their respective rooms, wide-eyed at seeing Jace's arm. Jace grinned a bit and waved with his other hand and they waved back slowly. He turned to Alyss and saw the small grin on her face, "Can you go explain?"

"Yeah, I can," Alyss nodded, "Be back in a bit."

Alyss walked past them and to the two teams' rooms. She told Nora to gather her team and go over to RWBY's room. When Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren stepped out, each looking confused by Nora's urging, they saw Jace and each, even Ren, went wide-eyed at seeing his arm and they hurried over to their friends' room.

"This is better than some of the most well known prosthetic engineers' works. It rivals my own engineer's," Ironwood said in awe, "Who made this?"

"A fifteen year-old girl. Her name is Hayley Timber, from Calm." Jace answered.

"A fifteen year-old girl built this herself?" Ironwood asked in disbelief and Jace nodded, "I believe I will need to meet her. I may offer her a position at my labs with doctor Seabolte, my engineer."

Jace grinned. "We knew you would want to do that."

"I was coming over to see for myself. It seems you're doing remarkably well dealing with your loss. I hope you continue to never lose your motivation or hope."

"Thank you, sir. I was about to go talk to Tyr about this. I'm glad I got to talk with you and let you know I'm alright too."

Ironwood stepped back from Jace and he sighed. "I hate to see young people with prosthetics. I know it's hell to deal with one and students like you and Tyr have enough on your minds with your training and social lives."

"I was really lucky to be able to get this," Jace said, "Hayley's dad was one of the wagon drivers and he keeps saying he caused the Grimm to be drawn to us with his attitude with us. He told Vivi to tell Hayley when she went back to Calm for help. And she came and did it in three days for free. Then Alyss... She just makes me feel normal after everything. She's what helped me deal with it so well. That, and remembering why I'm doing this."

"I think you're proving to be a great Huntsman already with your attitude," Ironwood told him, "You're dealing with your injury leagues better than I have in the past with mine. I think I'll leave you to talk to Tyr. Once again, I am glad to see you alright."

* * *

"Is your friend okay?" Shyla asked, cruising through the streets of Vale with Auron in his truck.

"Considerin' everything, he's doin' great. Better than how most people do with losin' a limb," Auron answered her, "His girlfriend really helped 'im out with it. If you'd meet 'em, they're basically a couple o' kittens. They love it when someone rubs their ears."

"Oh, th-they're Faunus?" Shyla asked, a bit uneasy.

"Yeah, they are..." They came to a stop at a red light and Auron looked over at her, "You don't have anything against Faunus do you?"

Shyla shook her head. "I-it's not that... It's just that I grew up with so much news saying stuff about the White Fang and violent protests that I got really scared. I never knew any Faunus and I still don't because of that. Recently..." She gulped and took a shaky breath as the light turned green and Auron continued down the street, "a couple of months ago, me and my friend were attacked on the streets... The guy kept making advances and we tried to just walk away... b-but he shot her in the back..."

From the tone of her voice, Auron could tell she was on the verge of tears. He pulled over on the side of the road and turned the truck off, giving her his full attention. "Wh-when he walked up to us, h-he said something about us getting wh-what we deserve for ignoring him... Then a Faunus jumped in and knocked him out. He s-stood over us with his back turned, looking like he was protecting us. I saw his claws and I was scared... Then he said we needed to get Amy to the hospital. W-we didn't have time for an ambulance... s-so he picked her up and we ran. After that, I never saw him again. I never got to thank him for saving our lives. I've been trying to work past my fear of Faunus ever since then. I-I'm done being afraid of every Faunus because of a few."

"There's some bad people in the world. A lot of 'em are dumbasses like the guy you got away from," Auron looked over at her and gave a smile, "This is somethin' Jace said to us before. _"Don't stare too long into the sun that you forget the rest of the sky"_. You can't keep focusin' on the bad. You gotta look at the good."

"That's one of the smartest things I've heard," Shyla admitted, calming herself down, "I-I want to be able to meet more Faunus."

"I'm sure they'd be happy to meet ya. There's three on my team. Jace, Alyss, an' Raine. It'd probably be best for you to tell 'em all that."

"Yeah... I hope they wouldn't hold anything against me for it."

"You ain't gotta worry about a thing. They won't do that. Now, where do you wanna go?"

Shyla thought for a few moments before answering. "We can go get some food. Then I want to see your rifle."

Auron grinned. "Okay. We can go to Beacon for the rifle so I can take it apart for ya. Let's go get some food. What do you want?"

* * *

"I did not expect to see you with a prosthetic, even though Nika and the others told me what happened..." Tyr said to Jace. APCT was out in the city the day before and Jace decided to let them be and enjoy their day without him inserting himself into it. So, he waited until the next day in the cafeteria to tell them about everything.

"I'm just lucky I didn't die," Jace replied, "It was tough to deal with how easily I took it. What I went through before just made me almost shrug it off. Gods, this is gonna get annoying for everyone to hear all the time, but if it wasn't for Alyss," He looked at his girlfriend with a smile, sitting next to him and holding his hand, "then I'd be depressed and if it wasn't for Hayley _and_ Alyss, I might've just quit. But both of them helped out a lot and I can't thank them enough."

"Both of you are just so good together." Terra told them both.

"Fucking adorable, really." Paige remarked.

"It's the purring, isn't it?" Alyss asked, grinning at the nods the two gave.

"You've never seen the pouncing." Jace said.

"I'm sure Raine has fun with that." Ashe said.

"I haven't tried pouncing on her yet," Alyss replied, "But Auron's like a tree. The only one I can really pounce on is Jace."

"Unless I'm really expecting it," Jace laughed, "The morning we chose our missions, she tried to wake me up with one but I was already awake."

"He caught me and pulled me down in the bed." Alyss added.

"It must be fun over in your dorm, then," Paige said, "We don't have any cat Faunus in our team to do that stuff."

Jace and Alyss laughed at that. "Well, that all depends on the Faunus' nature. I'm playful, so I like pouncing and scritches." Alyss said.

"I just like the scritches." Jace said.

"I need to try something with both of you sometime..." Terra said with a smirk.

"I swear to Oum if you say catnip..." Jace stared at her, crossing his arms.

"Nothing like that, don't worry," Terra assured him, "I'm just wondering if you'd go after stuff like a laser pointer or those cat toy things."

"Mom never tried with me." Alyss said.

Jace's ears flattened a bit and he shook his head. "Laser pointers, yeah. Gen had me chasing after a dot when we were kids and I slammed into a wall."

"That sounds hilarious." Terra grinned.

"I won't lie and say it wasn't fun, but hitting the wall hurt. Gen hasn't tried that in years."

Terra laughed. "That's good to know."

"Just don't remind Gen," Jace told her, "Or tell Aulin," He looked back over at Tyr and sighed at his expression, "What's wrong, Tyr?

"I just... wish you didn't require a prosthetic like me. But, at the very least you can feel with it." Tyr replied.

Jace _hummed_ a bit as he thought of something. "Y'know, I have Hayley's number," He said, "I can give her a call and tell her about you. You'd probably have to pay, but she'd be happy to make you a new prosthetic that can feel and produce heat."

Tyr thought about that for a few moments, looking at his own prosthetic. "I believe... I would like that. I would be grateful, Jace."

Jace waved it off. "It's no problem. I like to help my friends. I'll give her a call later."

* * *

"This is great work for what you said you had to work with..." Shyla said to Auron, looking over every part of _Last Call_ as it was taken apart and laid out on the table in his team's room, "You said you forged the barrel, lever, and the ammo tube yourself, right?"

Auron nodded, grinning. "Yep. My dad saved up lien for years from collectin' scrap an' sellin' it for junk. He got a lot since where we live used to be a battlefield back durin' the Great War. He made a real high-end forge with that lien. Then I used some o' the best scrap I could find for it. I actually got some good iron for the blade an' burn dust for the barrel. Then I ordered the inner parts I needed an' I got _Last Call_."

"If you ever need any replacements, I could get a discount at Century Arms for you," Shyla offered, "It looks like you take care of it pretty well too."

"Yeah, I usually oil everything once a week. That, then there's my revolvers."

"Did you make those too?"

Auron shook his head. "No, I got 'em at a gun show awhile back. Five hundred lien for each, but I talked 'em down to seven fifty to get both."

"Expensive, really. But for double-barrel revolvers of that size, it's a good price."

"It gave me somethin' to do while I waited for the forge to heat up," Auron said, grabbing one of his revolvers. He started spinning it around the middle finger of his right hand. He reversed the spin and kept it going for a few moments before tossing it into the air, catching it effortlessly on his left index finger, "I got pretty good at doin' this."

"That's amazing..." Shyla said, mesmerized by how easy Auron made it look, "Aren't you worried you might accidentally pull the trigger?"

Auron stopped spinning it and shook his head. "Here, see this little switch-lookin' thing?" He held it out, pointing to a small piece of metal under the hammer, "That's the safety. The way it is now, I can't fire it. But if I move it outta the way..." He pulled the hammer back a bit and moved the safety, then lightly let the hammer press against the firing pin, "Now it can be shot," He pulled the hammer back, put the safety in, then pulled the trigger. The hammer made a _click_ when it struck the safety and the gun didn't go off.

"Even as a weapon designer, I've never seen a revolver with a safety switch," Shyla remarked, taking one that Auron offered her, "It's really cool, to be honest."

"They've been with me everywhere I've been except class," Auron said, "An' besides. They're single-action. Can't shoot 'em if I don't pull the hammers back first."

"Then why do they have safety switches?"

"Hell if I know. I guess it's if I change my mind on shootin' somethin', but I can just ease the hammers back down. Thought about takin' 'em off."

"I'm sure whoever made them at Savage Arms wanted whoever bought them to be absolutely safe." Shyla laughed.

"Maybe. But I don't really need 'em to be that safe. I actually thought o' makin' both of 'em break-action."

"Like a double-barrel shotgun?" Shyla asked.

"You got it."

Shyla grinned and looked from Auron to the weapon that leaned against the wall next to the far bed. "Who's is that?"

"That's Jace's. Curious?"

"A little bit... That's a big magazine."

"I thought about fixin' this up to have a mag to it," Auron said as he worked to put his weapon back together, "Faster to reload in a fight, y'know."

"I don't suppose you'd wanna load one round at a time of you're fighting an Ursa, right?"

"Nope."

After a few moments, the door opened and Jace and Alyss came in. "Oh, you must be Shyla." Jace said.

The young woman nodded a bit nervously. "That's me. Shyla Lynn. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Jace Reznor."

"And I'm Alyssia Wystar," Alyss greeted, "Just call me Alyss. Nice to meet you too."

"Now you gotta meet Raine," Auron said to Shyla, "She's out with her girlfriend right now while she's here."

"Is her girlfriend not a student?" Shyla asked him.

"No, she's a Ranger an' Raine's an apprentice Ranger. Her girlfriend is assigned to the council an' Beacon." Auron answered.

"And she's right behind Jace."

"Mother of Light!" Jace yelled, jumping and turning around to face his grinning partner, "I knew I should've closed the door."

Raine laughed. "That'll never get old."

"Did you follow us or something?" Alyss asked the diminutive apprentice.

Raine shrugged. "Kinda."

Auron laughed for a few moments and turned back to Shyla. "That's Raine."

"Raine Daturas," Raine greeted, "Good to meet you, Shyla."

"You too." Shyla said.

"It was really nice of you to do that for Auron at the dance." Alyss said to her.

Shyla smiled and her face flushed a bit. "I didn't want him to feel bad that I said no at first, so I just went back after I talked to General Ironwood. It was pretty fun."

"I'm glad I met ya," Auron said to her, "Today's been fun."

"Yeah... I'm glad I met you too," Shyla said, then turned her reddening face to Jace, "I hope you're doing okay. Auron told me what happened."

"I'm doing fine, you don't have to worry," Jace said, "It's thanks to this awesome girl that I am." He finished, kissing Alyss on the cheek.

"He always says that when someone asks how he's doin' after that," Auron said, "I ain't denyin' it, though."

"That's good," Shyla said, "Your prosthetic looks amazingly done."

Jace grinned. "Thanks. The girl that did it is pretty amazing."

"If you don't mind..." Shyla started nervously, looking back to the weapon she saw before, "Can I see your sword?"

* * *

"Are you excited to get some more apples?" Alyss asked Jace.

"Maybe as excited as you are to get more cherries." Jace said with a grin.

"Sooo... really excited?"

"Oh yeah. And I'm excited for the cherries too."

They stepped into the garage Jace shared with Yang and Jace rolled his motorcycle out. "I kinda wish Caitlyn would stop moving her stand around. But it makes sense she does so she can make more lien."

"Gives me more of a chance to get used to riding _Titan_ though, right?" Alyss said with a smile, "Hopefully we can find them easy."

"Mabari told me all the spots where she usually sets it up and the schedule she has them there, so we should be able to." Jace replied and moved to close the garage.

"Keep that open!"

Jace stopped and turned as Alyss called out to the arrivals. "Hi Yang. Hi Weiss." She greeted them.

"What's goin' on, guys?" Yang asked them.

"Just going to buy our apples and cherries." Alyss answered her.

"I still don't see how you both like those so much." Weiss remarked.

"My taste buds are sensitive and cherries are awesome enough as they are." Alyss answered.

"And dad gave me an apple when he took me in as a kid. That's why I like them so much," Jace said, "And the ones from Calm are so good. Have you guys ever tried them?"

"I haven't, no," Weiss said, "I may have to now."

"I'll try to save a couple," Jace offered, "I guess you two are heading somewhere too?"

"Well..." Weiss blushed and looked down as Yang grinned.

"I'm takin' her on a date," She told them, "To a good restaurant."

"Oh, how long have you been dating?" Alyss asked them.

"A week," Weiss answered, "It just... _happened_ , in a way."

"We kinda started arguing about schoolwork," Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck now, "She kinda slipped."

"I said that maybe if she would actually accept help from the one that loves her, then she would be able to finish it much faster." Weiss said.

"I didn't expect her to love me, y'know?" Yang said, "I mean, someone from her background bein' with someone like me sounds like a fairy tale."

Jace laughed. "Can't be a fairy tale if it's actually happening, can it?" He asked.

"Guess not." Yang laughed as well.

"Well, we're happy for you both," Alyss told them with a smile, "I think we should let you get to it."

"Have fun, guys." Jace said to them.

Jace and Alyss hopped on _Titan_ and Jace started it up, then drove from the garages. "Do you think I should've warned Weiss about the... vibrations?" Alyss asked.

"Yang probably already did," Jace said, "Or she might not have told her to let it be a surprise like Raine did with you."

"Someone might be getting smacked later," Alyss laughed, "I don't think Weiss would want the embarrassment that comes with it."

"I don't know if you just made a pun or not." Jace said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Alyss asked, not understanding. It took her a few moments as she went over what she had said in her mind and she started laughing more, "Oh gods, I didn't mean that!"

They drove through several streets before they found the stand that the dog Faunus family occupied. All three of them were there, which Jace smiled at. With every visit he made, he grew to be friends with them all. His smile vanished as he prepared to tell them about the mission. He pulled _Titan_ to a stop a bit further down the street so the engine wouldn't bother their ears when he started it again. The couple stepped off of it, stowing their helmets, and walked toward the stand where the family waved at them. They waved back and after a few moments, they arrived.

"Hello Jace. It's been awhile," Caitlyn greeted him, "I was starting to wonder what happened to you."

"Well..." Jace cleared his throat, "Something... _did_ happen to me."

"What happened?" Jack asked him.

Jace sighed and rolled the sleeve of his jacket up on his left arm, showing the prosthetic to them. "I lost my arm."

"How did that happen?" Mabari asked, concern in his voice for his young friend.

"Are you alright?" Caitlyn asked.

"I'm okay. I've said it a lot, but I'm more than okay," Jace replied, "I lost it when a Stalker snuck up behind me. I'll save details right now, but I got rushed to Pyne after our chaperone went back to Calm for an ambulance."

"She also told a prosthetic mechanic about him because her dad asked Vivi to," Alyss continued, "The mechanic's dad was one of the wagon drivers. He felt horrible because he blames himself."

"That's Hayley Timber, right?" Mabari asked, "I heard about her a few times when I was in Calm before."

"Yeah, that's her," Jace nodded, "Because her dad felt so bad, she made this for me for free in three days. And Alyss helped me through it so much just by being with me."

"It's..." Caitlyn shook her head, "terrible that you had to go through that... It must have been so hard."

"Honestly..." Jace sighed, "I've been through worse. I plan on telling you guys about that sometime soon. But I've been through a lot worse and I just accepted this after I woke up. And like I said, Aly helped me deal with it. She made me feel normal."

"We won't pry," Mabari said, "If it's really bad, just take your time."

"Your arm is so cool looking..." Jack said quietly, "It's like my favorite character's in a show I like."

"That's really cool," Jace said, grinning, "Maybe I should watch it sometime."

"Maybe we should go ahead and buy our things," Alyss suggested, "Before we forget."

"That might be for the best," Jace laughed, "Yeah, we want the usual."

Caitlyn nodded and gave a returning grin. "You're lucky I keep these back for you now. Their popularity skyrocketed lately."

"Thanks, Caitlyn," Jace said and took the bag of apples from her, then Alyss took the small container of cherries, "I guess business has been good for you?"

"Yeah!" Jack chirped, "A lot of people buy fruits now. Even humans do."

"Did they not buy your fruits before?" Alyss asked.

"No, they haven't," Mabari replied, "I'm guessing it has something to do with our ears and tail."

"People are dumb." Jace sighed.

"So, how much are these?" Alyss asked, motioning with her tub of cherries.

"Oh, don't worry about that this time," Caitlyn told her, "It's how I want to say that I'm glad you're okay. Let's all hope nothing bad like that happens again."


	30. Chapter 30: Interlude

**Chapter Thirty**

 **Second Act Finale**

 **Interlude**

 _ **Two months later**_

"Here is your winner and champion of the Vytal Festival Tournament, representing team JNPR and Beacon, Pyrrha Nikos!" Ooblack called at the end of the final match, the entire colosseum erupting in applause and cheers.

"FUCK YEAH!" Auron bellowed, pumping his fist into the air.

"Auron!" He heard Sapphire yell behind him.

"Sorry!" Auron called back to her.

Pyrrha and Yang shook hands in the center of the arena and the defeated brawler walked out, then cameramen rushed in to interview the Mistralian. Auron sighed and shook his head. "I guaran-freakin'-tee if anyone else won, they wouldn't have been so fast to talk to 'em."

After the cheering died down a bit, team JKDW, joined by Shyla and Vivi, walked out to get away from the noise. "I thought Yang had it for a minute toward the end." Jace said to the group.

"There's somethin' in Pyrrha's mind that kicks in in the middle of a fight," Auron said, "She gets really into it an' focuses harder. Like when she fought Tyr a few nights ago."

"Let's hope we don't get put against her team next year," Alyss said with a laugh, "I dont want to lose first thing."

"But you have an apprentice Ranger in your team," Shyla said, "I think you'd be able to do it."

"She took on a whole team of people by herself," Raine told her, "They weren't the most skilled team, but she fought them and beat them."

"I never could beat her back in Sanctum." Auron added.

"If we train enough, we might be able to do it," Jace said optimistically, "But I don't wanna get hit by Nora's hammer."

"This one thinks you'll do fine next year," Vivi said with a smile, "It's being held in Mistral."

"You guys get to meet mom, dad, an' Preacher." Auron said.

"I kinda actually have a plan for the summer," Alyss said, making everyone stop and turn to her, "We could maybe spend a week or two at each others' houses. It would give us all something to do."

"That sounds pretty good," Raine said, "Maybe we can do some more things in Calm."

"Like another drinking party?" Jace asked with a grin.

Auron grunted, shaking his head. "What? So you can take people's lien from bets against you?"

"That wasn't my fault. You guys did that on your own."

"You should drink more cherry vodka." Alyss suggested with a wink.

Jace grinned at that. "I might do that."

"Sounds like a party," Shyla said, "How much can you drink before you get drunk?" She asked Jace out of curiosity.

"I..." Jace hesitated, "I apparently can't get drunk."

"Really?" Shyla looked at him, "I've never met anyone that can't... Are you okay?" She asked, noticing he was looking nervous as his ears pressed against his head.

"You want me to tell her sometime?" Auron asked Jace.

Jace nodded. "Yeah... if you don't mind."

"It's somethin' he don't like talkin' about. He don't like repeatin' it," Auron said to Shyla, "I'll tell ya next time we hang out. You work tomorrow don't you?"

Shyla nodded. "Yeah, I do. But I have the day after tomorrow off, so we can hang out again."

"I'll look forward to it. I'm actually gonna hang back an' talk to Pyrrha an' the others. Wanna come with me?"

"Sure, but I can't stay long," Shyla replied, " I have to be in early in the morning."

The two left toward the arena entrance to find JNPR while the others walked on. They exited the colosseum and waited in line to ride an airship back down to Beacon. "Those two have been hanging out a lot lately." Jace said to the group.

"Think anything more is going on between them?" Raine asked.

"It's none of my business but I hope there is," Alyss said, "They look like they match."

"Like you two." Vivi grinned.

"You could say that." Alyss giggled.

"I can't wait for the tournament next year," Raine said with a grin, "I want to go up against Ashe."

"There's another apprentice going to Vacuo next year," Vivi told her, "You have to watch out for him too."

"That'll be fun. You can take him if we fight his team, Raine," Jace said, "I wanna fight Gen. See who gets better. I know Auron's gonna want to fight Pyrrha. Who would you wanna go against, Aly?" He asked his girlfriend.

Alyss tilted her head a bit. "I wouldn't mind going against Bell again. Or maybe Neptune or Sun. I'd kinda like to go against anyone with a glaive or staff."

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I'd like to go against Yatsu, Sage, or maybe Heath too." Jace said.

"They only have a few days left to be here..." Alyss said sadly, "It's gonna be pretty quiet when we're actually alone."

"True, but maybe a bit of quiet would be a good thing," Jace grinned, pulling her into a one-armed hug, "It's definitely gonna be a bit hard to see them off."

"I'm gonna cry..." Alyss said quietly.

"Yeah, I might too."

"I guess it's harder for both of you since you had close friends and family coming here, right?" Raine asked them.

"Yeah... Saph and Zack and Heath are like another family to me, even though I only knew them for the first semester before I left," Alyss sighed, "They were just so nice to me, especially after what I told them about _him_..."

"They're nice people. I'm glad I got to meet them." Jace said.

After several minutes of waiting in a long line for an airbus, Jace sighed. "Hey Alyss..." He said, looking and grinning at her.

"Yeah, Kitty?" Alyss replied.

"You remember when you wanted to get to Beacon to see Sapphire and the others?"

"Yeah, I remember," Alyss started to return the grin, "Want to?"

"Yes I do."

Raine sighed. "You're gonna leave us behind again?"

"Sorry, Raine," Jace apologized, "If I could take more than one person, I would."

"Oh just go," Raine told them, grinning as well, "I guess-"

"We'll be fine," Vivi cut in, "This one has a plan." She said and brought her scroll out.

"Okay. See you back at the dorm, Raine!" Jace said, grabbing Alyss' hand and starting to run with her.

"Bye!" Alyss called back cheerfully.

The two ran past multiple people, who yelled and told them to stop skipping in line. "We're making a scene, Jace." Alyss laughed.

"Well, we're about to make a bigger one!" Jace laughed as well, pulling her in front of him and activating his semblance to grow his wings. He grabbed her around the waist with his prosthetic and she turned around as he jumped over the edge of the airdocks. They dove down for a few hundred feet before Jace spread his wings, then they soared toward the dorms.

"Have I ever told you how amazing this is?" Alyss asked, smiling widely.

"A few times. You're the only one I ever fly like this with, you know," Jace replied, "And you're the only one I let touch my tail. I think your idea is really good. I'd like to spend a few weeks with you guys at your houses."

"I still haven't told mom I'm dating you yet. I'm waiting until we actually see her again."

"How long do you think we'll have the room to ourselves?" Jace asked.

"I dunno..." Alyss replied, grinning, "What is it you want to do?"

"Scritching session with my Pretty Kitty."

"That sounds amazing."

* * *

"I didn't get to tell you this last night, but congratulations on your win, Pyrrha." Jace said to the champion at breakfast the next day.

"Thank you, Jace," Pyrrha said, sighing a bit, "I could have done without the interview right after, but I suppose that comes with continuing my streak."

"Couldn't you have just not do the interview?" Yang asked her, holding a chicken leg in her hand and Weiss' hand in the other.

"Yang, can you put your food down while you talk to someone?" Weiss sighed, "It's very rude."

Yang shrugged and set the chicken in her plate as Pyrrha sighed. "It's what has been ingrained in my mind since Sanctum..."

"That's dumb," Jaune said from her side, "You should be able to do what you want and not be obligated to do anything."

"Exactly," Auron agreed, "It's your time they're wastin'. You got a say in what your time goes to."

"Yeah, you don't have to do any interviews if you don't want to." Ruby agreed, sitting at Blake's side.

Pyrrha sighed, letting out a small smile. "I wish it were that simple."

"I guess it seems simple because none of us have to deal with that," Alyss said, "I feel bad for you."

"If you wanna sit out next year, we can," Nora offered, "I mean, you won it for us last night! I'd like to fight, but either way I'm happy we won!"

Pyrrha shook her head. "No, I don't want you to exempt yourselves from the tournament for my sake."

"We wouldn't mind, Pyrrha," Ren assured her, "If you want to, then we can exempt ourselves with no trouble. It may be healthy for you to have peace from it."

"I think you should fight, but not in the singles," Blake suggested, setting her book on the table, "That way, you would still be fighting but Nora, Ren, or Jaune can fight in the last rounds. And if they lose, your streak would technically be intact and you shouldn't have to deal with cameras for almost an hour."

"That is an appealing idea..." Pyrrha admitted.

"Good thinking, Blake," Ruby grinned at the incognito Faunus, "It's simple and you don't have to win every year." She said to Pyrrha.

"It doesn't have to be decided right now," Raine said, "There's a full year to wait. But it's going to be in Mistral."

"Oh yeah..." Jace said, frowning, "Wouldn't you want to win or go to the singles in your home kingdom?"

"I..." Pyrrha sighed, "I don't know... I would like to, but I'm just tired of winning..."

"Hey, I'm kinda your student, right?" Jaune asked, an idea forming in his head, "You said I've been improving a lot. You're teaching me and if I get lucky enough that I actually win, then that's because of you. Wouldn't they all be proud that you taught someone so well that they won the tournament? Y'know, if I even won?"

"That..." Pyrrha thought about it for a moment, "That sounds like a grand idea. I'll have to kick your training up until then, though."

Jaune grinned. "I can handle it."

"Smartest thing I've heard that's come from you, Jaune," Yang remarked, "Gotta admit I'm impressed."

"I won't lie, I am as well." Weiss said.

"You just gotta give 'im more of a chance," Auron said with a grin, "Maybe he'll smarten up a bit more sometime soon." He said, casting a wink toward Pyrrha, which she let out a small smile at.

* * *

"I guess... I'll see you later, Jace."

"Yeah... See you when it's summer, Gen."

Jace and Genesis wrapped each other in a strong hug, Jace's eyes tearing up. They released each other and Jace wiped at his eyes, grinning as Alex and Genesis embraced. "See you later, Gen. Thanks again for accepting me."

"No problem, man."

Jace turned to Nika. "Keep this dummy out of trouble, please."

"I can ask the same of Alyss and Aulin." Genesis laughed, wiping at his own eyes.

"I'll keep my eye on him," Nika assured Jace, "If he gets in trouble, you'll know."

"Same with Alex here." Aulin said, taking told of her boyfriend's hand.

"And if Jace gets in trouble," Alyss spoke up, "Then you'll know, Gen."

Genesis nodded. "Right. And you make sure he takes care of his arm."

"I will."

"And you two take care of yourselves," Jace said to Michael and Liza, "And don't be assholes."

"We'll try not to be." Michael replied.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that any more," Liza told him, smiling, "We've been horrible people to you and Genesis and more people than that... No one knows what anyone else has been through or what they're going through, so we're going to be better people. And for the others we've been asses to, we're gonna apologize when we see them again and try to make up for it like we have for you two."

Jace smiled back and nodded. "Good."

"We have both of you to thank for this change," Michael said, "If Genesis didn't snap, then we'd still be like that."

"I guess we should get on the airship," Genesis sighed, choking up a bit as he grabbed his bags off the ground. He took a deep breath and sighed again, "S-see you guys sometime. We're off."

"Good luck with your flight, Gen." Jace said.

Team GLSS walked on and the others stood there, watching them get smaller and smaller until they stepped onto the airbus. After they couldn't see them anymore, they walked away, going toward where the ships departing for Vacuo were sitting. For the day, Ozpin had let the airbuses land anywhere they could land around the airdocks, just as long as they didn't ruin the stone and grass.

After searching for a few minutes, they found team SHRA. Alyss rushed forward and crashed into them, hugging the three members of her former team. "I-I'm glad miss Blaine let you all come..." She said, already crying, "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"We'll miss you too, Kitty Cat," Heath replied, snaking her arms around to return the hug, "It was nice to be able to hang out with you for longer."

Sapphire smiled as she brought her hand up to Alyss' head. "Remember that we all love you." She said and gave her ears a few scritches.

"I love you guys too..." Alyss replied, _purring_ lightly, "Stay safe."

"We will, don't worry," Zack assured her as he and Heath joined in on the scritches, "You be careful too."

"I will. Jace will make sure of it."

"Darn right I will," Jace grinned when he arrived, "I'll do whatever I can to make sure she is. And to make sure she's happy."

"I'm holding you to that, Jace." Heath told him.

Meanwhile, Aulin was hugging Barrett as the rest of her team found them. "Seeya later, Bear. Say hi to you mom for me even though she doesn't know me."

Barrett grinned. "I will. It'll be weird to be back in Vacuo."

"You will get used to it," Bell smiled, "I pray that Oum watches over Lyla and lets her recover well."

"Thanks, Bell. I'm hopin' I could be allowed to go see her."

"If you ask, miss Blaine will let you." Alyss told him.

Barrett nodded. "I guess this is goodbye for now."

"It is," Inuvali said, "I hope you can keep in contact with us."

"I'll try my best to."

"That goes for you too, Aly." Sapphire said to the cat Faunus.

"I will. I promise." Alyss replied.

"See you all later," Aulin said to everyone, "It was good to meet you guys. Take good care of Bear."

Heath put two fingers to her forehead and grinned. "Scout's honor."

Barrett laughed, shaking his head. "Dork."

Aulin grinned. "And you take _real_ good care of him." She told Heath.

"You got it, sis."

SHRA picked their bags back off the ground and prepared to leave. "Bye Aly. You and mom take care of yourselves," Sapphire said, her eyes starting to grow more and more blurry, "W-we'll come visit over the summer."

"Try to have it be toward the end of the first month," Alyss told her, "We're all going to each others' houses for the month."

"Got it."

"I can't wait to fight against you guys next year." Alyss said, then the team left for the airship.

As they entered, Alyss looked down and her tears fell to the ground. Jace put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close to him, and she responded by putting her arm around his waist, putting her head against his shoulder. Alex and Aulin left and the two were left alone, just waiting. After several minutes, the airship powered up and raised itself into the air, then it was on its way to Vacuo.

"Now I know why Auron hates goodbyes..." Jace said and sniffled as he and Alyss watched the airship shrink in the distance, "They were all so awesome about me telling them everything."

"Told you they would be," Alyss replied, "I hope Barrett is alright with them."

"I'm sure he will be. Especially with Heath with him."

"Yeah..." Alyss sighed when she could barely see the airship, "I guess we should go back to our room..."

"Hey, how about we just go relax and cheer ourselves up?" Jace suggested as they slowly walked across the courtyard, "We still have until Monday for classes to start again."

"We could go visit mom," Alyss suggested, "She... still doesn't know about your arm."

"Well, just tell her not to panic," Jace said, "I can already tell she will. I'd like to see her again."

"I'm sure the others do too. She probably wants to see you too. I'll let her know we're coming this time."

* * *

"Oh good Oum... What happened to you, cub?" Lilith asked, staring at Jace when she opened her door to see him and his team.

"Something bad happened on that mission we went on," Jace explained, "Stalkers have apparently been moving into Vale... and one took my arm off after we got finished fighting Grimm off at night."

Lilith stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jace answered easily, "I can feel and produce heat with the prosthetic and it's really well made. I'm okay, really. I have Alyss to thank for that, mostly."

"We're together now," Alyss said, "I wanted to see you to tell you."

"P-please, everyone come in out of the cold." Lilith said and led them into the house. The four took their shoes and boots off and followed the Faunus mother into the living room where they all sat down in the couches.

"It's good seein' you again, mom." Auron said to her.

"You too, Pepper," Liltih smiled, "And you, pup," She said to Raine. She turned to look at her daughter and smiled wider at seeing her and Jace's hands clasped together, "I'm glad you both are together now. When did that happen?"

"A few months ago, now," Alyss answered sheepishly, "It was a couple weeks before the dance."

"That long?" Lilith shook her head, "Oh I don't mind. I'm just so happy you're both safe. And happy, I'm assuming."

"They're really happy," Raine said, "Ever since they started dating, they've been inseparable."

" _Please_ ," Auron laughed, "They've been inseperable since they met."

"But she had to be ordered to be with Jace when that happened," Raine grinned a bit, "She wanted to stay and help if she was needed to heal someone, but our chaperone told her to go because her mind wouldn't be in the right place."

"We went to Pyne ahead of everyone else. We got to relax, but we didn't do much to help." Jace sighed.

"But she comforted you, right?" Lilith asked him.

Jace nodded. "Yeah. And I love her so much for it."

"And I love him just as much." Alyss said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"That's good to know. Now, I am going to go finish dinner," Lilith said, standing from her seat, "Let's see... I prepared chicken for Raine, chicken breaded in flour and ghost pepper for Auron, and salmon and tuna for Jace and Alyss. Also, I bought apples, oranges, cherries and walnuts for you to snack on."

"Walnuts?" Raine echoed, her ears peeking up more, "What kind?"

"Black." Lilith grinned.

"Oh you are just the best."

"I am glad you think so." Lilith said.

"I'm glad we decided to come visit." Jace laughed.

* * *

"So, have you both..." Lilith cleared her throat as she looked at Jace and Alyss later that day, sitting in the living room with Raine and Auron while they watched a show on the vidcaster. It was old, set during the Great War. It was a comedy about a group of Valesian military doctors in a field hospital in Anima, taking care of their own soldiers as well as any citizens that were injured near the location. It was mostly serious during the surgeries the doctors performed, but the more comedic parts always took place out of the operating room.

Lilith took a deep breath. "Have you... had sex?"

"Y-yes, we have." Alyss answered truthfully.

"Should we step outside?" Auron asked them all.

"Maybe that would be best," Raine said and stood from her seat, "I know I'm gonna have the same talk with my mom and dad too. I'll just cover my ears." She said and the two left the room.

After a few awkward moments, Jace opened his mouth. "W-we used protection, don't worry," He said, "I wanted to wait, but after I lost my arm... I realized that I wanted to do everything I can with Alyss."

"Same with me," Alyss said, "I really feel like Jace is the only person I'll be with... so I wanted to do it too. We didn't force anything on each other."

Lilith nodded. "Okay. I just wanted to know, I didn't mean to pry into your personal life. I _do_ trust you, Jace, but I wanted to be sure my little cub is being safe."

"That's fine..." Jace answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess I should've expected this talk... Dad just told me to be safe with everything, so he's probably okay with it."

"You're not in trouble," Lilith assured him, "I just wanted to make sure you both were okay, and I can tell you are. I'm not mad with you for doing what's natural."

Both of the young teens let out sighs of relief. "The food you fixed was really good," Jace told her, trying to change the subject, "I'm glad you didn't get your flour mixed up for everyone's."

Lilith laughed. "Oh, that would have been so fun. The hottest thing Aly ever tried was just a bell pepper. And she spent thirty minutes at the kitchen sink, her mouth under the faucet trying to cool her mouth down. It was just so funny!"

"I don't think it would've been that fun if we got ghost pepper," Alyss said, crossing her arms as her mother giggled and her boyfriend laughed, "My taste buds are just way too sensitive for that stuff. Quit laughing at my misfortunes!" She huffed, playfully slapping Jace's arm.

"Sorry sweetie," Jace snickered, "I'm just imagining that right now."

Lilith's scroll rang next to her and she picked it up. Her eyes widened a bit and she stood up. "I have to take this, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Alyss said, "I'm sure it must be important."

Lilith nodded and left the room, then the others returned after a few moments. "Bell peppers ain't even that spicy." Auron said and continued watching the show on the vidcaster.

"Don't start, Auron!" Alyss whined, "My taste buds are sensitive! Didn't you hear that too?"

"Maybe."

"Then there you go!"

"Quit arguing about peppers." Raine told them with a laugh.

"How 'bout this," Auron started, "Mom does this thing sometimes where she scrapes all the spicy bits out o' bell peppers. And I mean she really scrapes it out. No spiciness left in 'em. Then she stuffs 'em full o' hamburger meat. Or I'd say you could do it with fish or chicken. Then she wraps 'em in cabbage an' throws it all in a pot o' boilin' water. Have it set for awhile an' it's real good."

"That sounds amazing. Especially if you can do that with chicken." Raine said, almost licking her lips at the thought.

"...Okay, try that soon," Alyss told Auron, "My taste buds are why I like cherries so much. They're _sooo_ amazing!"

"Get me some cherry vodka and I know exactly how much you like them." Jace said, grinning as he kissed Alyss on the lips.

"I know a birthday gift for you then." Auron grinned.

"You know you can't bring that stuff on campus." Raine said.

"Well, you'll just have to see."

After another moment, Lilith walked back into the room and sat down, folding her hands in her lap. "I have something very important to tell you, Aly." Lilith said to her daughter, adopting a more serious attitude.

"What is it?" Alyss asked and everyone stopped, giving full attention to her mother.

"I received word from the Vacuoan authorities..." Lilith said and they all noticed a huge sense of relief in her tone, "They caught him."

"They... Th-they did?" Alyss asked, straightening her back as she stared at her mother, "We're safe?"

"Yes, little cub," Lilith nodded, smiling as she cried tears of relief, "We don't have to worry anymore."

"That's awesome news," Jace said, smiling as much as the two cat Faunus, "I'm glad you don't have to worry about him."

"I'd say you guys can sleep easier now," Auron said, "Man, I was startin' to think they wouldn't get 'im, as bad as it sounds."

"They said it was an apprentice Ranger that tracked him down," Lilith explained, "H-he was asking about us, saying I abandoned my mate..." She brought her hand up to her shoulder and shuddered, "I-I am glad I broke our bond after our fight. It... I-it wasn't as painful as seeing what he's become..." She shook her head, "She tracked him and she heard him say his name.."

"P-please don't say it..." Alyss said, leaning against Jace as he had his arm wrapped protectively around her.

"I wont, Aly," Lilith assured her, "The girl immediately called her mentor and they caught him."

"That was probably Maya," Raine said, "She doesn't even go to an academy yet. I'll be hearing about it at the Gathering."

"You know we would've stopped him if he came here," Jace said as he leaned his head against his girlfriend's, "I'm glad we didn't have to, though. I'm glad you both never have to see him again."

"And... that brings a question that I think I already know the answer to..." Lilith said, looking into her daughter's eyes, "Aly, do you want to go back home to Vacuo?"

Alyss shook her head. "I've already thought of that before. I told Jace that even if he got caught, then I wouldn't go back. I found the one I love here, mom. I miss Vacuo and Shade, Sapphire and the others, but I want to stay here. I wanna be with Jace."

Lilith smiled at the answer. "I already knew you'd want to stay. I just wanted to hear it."

"What about you?" Alyss asked, "Are you gonna go back?"

"No, I don't believe I will," Lilith replied, "I want to see my cub succeed at Beacon. I can't do that too well all the way in Vacuo."

"I don't mean to ruin the moment, but it's gettin' pretty late," Auron cut in and stood up, "I'm gonna go turn in."

"Same here," Raine said, "I don't think we should stay up and be used to staying up."

"Makes sense." Alyss and Jace said as the two walked from the room.

"Night," Auron said to everyone, "You two sleep good. You deserve it." He told Alyss and Lilith.

"Goodnight, kids." Lilith said before the two left.

"You don't mind if we sleep in the same room, do you?" Jace asked Lilith, "We kinda like sleeping together. Less nightmares about... you know."

"It's okay," Lilith assured him, "I would find it strange if you didn't by now."

"W-we won't do anything while we stay tonight, if you're worried..." Alyss said, a blush growing and intensifying on her cheeks.

Her mother grinned a bit. "All I am going to tell you is that the walls are very thick in this house. And if you do decide to do that, then please take a shower in the morning."

"...We'll keep that in mind..." Alyss said quietly and the two left the room while Lilith chuckled, turning the lights off.

* * *

Jace and Alyss laid comfortably in the latter's bed that night. Even though they _did_ need to sleep, they didn't really want to yet. Alyss _purred_ contently as she pressed her back against Jace's stomach and chest, his arm draped over her stomach as he traced circles around on her skin. They didn't talk. Alyss giggled a bit from time to time at the feeling of Jace's finger on her stomach and he _hummed_ happily at hearing it.

"I'm having the best time of my life." Alyss murmured.

"So am I, Kitten," Jace replied in the same tone, "Y'know, losing my arm made me realize how much I love you."

"Yeah, you've been saying that a lot. It's the same with me."

Jace smiled and kissed the back of her neck. "Gods, I can't say it enough. This is the happiest I've ever been. I'm even happier that you're safe from _him_ now."

"I'm just glad that mom is safe," Alyss said, closing her eyes, "She wouldn't have been able to defend herself. But now she doesn't have to worry."

"And neither do you."

* * *

 _Alyss walked into her home and the power was strangely shut off. The hallway was pitch black and she couldn't even see._

 _"Mom!" She called through the house, her voice silent._

 _She stepped into the house and saw a small light in the living room and she stopped in the doorway to see a horrible sight. Her father was there, cornering her mother with a blade in his hand._

 _"You abandoned me, Lilith..." He growled, his cat ears pressed against his scalp, "How could you abandon your mate?"_

 _"Leave her alone!" Alyss tried to yell, but nothing came out of her mouth._

 _She felt something on her shoulder and turned quickly, seeing Jace step from the darkness of the hallway. Soon after, Auron and Raine came forward, then Sapphire, Zack, and Heath. Then SLVR, RWBY, and JNPR. They filled the room around her and she found her voice._

 _"LEAVE HER ALONE!" She screamed, making the man turn around._

 _He stepped forward toward her and she stood her ground._ Soul Leaf _materialized in her hands and she stabbed out at him, making him vanish into smoke. The room brightened around them all and Alyss turned around as Jace stepped forward. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed her on the forehead._

 _"We're all here for you. I'm here, and I'll always be by your side."_

Alyss' eyes came open and she stared around in her room. She felt Jace's arm tight around her stomach and she calmed down from her small nightmare. She took comfort in the friends she had made. Her old team, her new team, all of the teams from Beacon and the one team from Haven she met, and her boyfriend. She turned in his arms and looked at his sleeping face, seeing a smile on his lips. She put her arms around him and pulled herself close, putting her forehead against his chest.

"I'll always be here, Jace," She murmured, "I love you."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: Cheesy.**

 **Just like the finale of the first act, I'm going to take a week long break to make sure everything's set up right with the next act.**

 **See you then, and have a nice day!**


	31. Chapter 31: Cold Trip

**AN: I'm back with the next act of A Second Chance! This entire act is gonna be a vacation, spanning across everyone's homes in JKDW. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Act Three: Vacation**

 **Chapter Thirty One**

 **Cold Trip**

 ** _Three Months Later_**

"Your place first, right?" Auron asked the leader of team JKDW.

Jace nodded. "Because I'm pretty sure it's the furthest away. Then it's yours, then Raine's, then back here for Alyss'." The team were preparing to depart for Atlas. The school year had ended and it was time for a much needed break for them after their rollercoaster of a first year.

"I wonder if we'd have enough time for anything else," Alyss wondered, "We're only spending a week at each others' houses. That would maybe be a month. What are we doing for the other month?"

"I remember Yang saying something about Patch's weather being really nice right about now," Jace said, "And that there's a nice beach up the coast."

"That sounds great," Alyss smiled at the idea, "That would be nice."

"Everyone about ready to go?" Jace asked them all.

"Yeah, I'm good to go," Auron answered him, "I'm gonna miss this room."

"Me too," Raine said, "All this space was nice."

"Maybe next year we could take a page out of RWBY's book," Alyss suggested, "Bunk beds!"

"That wouldn't really help me and you," Jace told her, "I mean, we sleep in the same bed."

"We can push two together then." Alyss said as she slung her duffle bag over her shoulders. She put _Soul Leaf_ on her shoulder in her harness' hoop, then she stood waiting for Jace.

"I like that idea," Jace grinned, "Maybe we can make a case to Ozpin for everyone to just move floors. Like everyone gets the room directly above them or below them."

"That's a pretty good idea," Raine said as she locked her weapons in their cases, "It would make it easier on everyone. No one would get lost if they remember what room they had before."

"Maybe that's why you're the leader." Auron laughed, picking his trunk up on his shoulder.

Jace shrugged. "I have moments."

They exited the room and started down the hall. They saw teams RWBY and JNPR outside their rooms talking to each other. Before they stepped further, Jace had a thought. "Did Alex and the others leave yet?"

"Bell and Inu did," Alyss answered, "Aulin and Alex are still here. I think Aulin was gonna stay if she can."

"Wanna see if they'll tag along?" Raine asked Jace.

"Yeah, we can see." Jace replied

They stepped up to their neighbors' door and Jace knocked on it a few times and waited. After a few moments, the door opened and revealed Aulin, who's hair was a bit messy and she had a shirt that looked hastily thrown on, along with a pair of loose shorts. "Oh, you haven't left yet?"

"No, not yet. We would've told you if we did before." Jace said.

"We wanted to know of you'd wanna come to Atlas with us," Alyss offered, "So you're not stuck here alone."

"Well, I'm staying with her. So she wouldn't be alone," Alex said as he stepped into the doorway, "We don't really have anywhere to go, so yeah."

Jace sighed. "That's bullshit, Alex," He said lightly, "You're welcome at our house, y'know."

"I guess so..." Alex sighed as well, "I just... kinda keep forgetting. It's still pretty new to me to have a family."

"Well, do you want to come with us?" Jace asked them, "You're welcome to come too, Aul."

"Umm... Sure, I'll go," Aulin answered, "Beats staying here for two months even if Ozpin would let us."

"It would be nice to go, so I'm in." Alex said.

"Alright then. We'll give you some time to pack." Jace told them.

"We'll... try not to take too long," Aulin told him a bit distractedly, "Shouldn't be too bad..."

Jace nodded and they moved on from them, walking on down the hall to speak with the remaining team. It was JNPR, and it appeared that RWBY had left them. They all stood there for a few moments, exchanging words with each other as Jace and the others arrived.

"Hey, I guess you're all about to head out?" Raine asked them.

"We are," Pyrrha answered, "I take it you are as well?"

"Yeah, just about," Jace replied, "We're heading up to Atlas for the next week. What are all your plans?"

"Nora and I are returning to the orphanage we were raised in for our childhood." Ren answered for himself and Nora.

"We're gonna help out around there," Nora added, "It's the least we could do for them for taking care of us."

"I'm going home to hopefully relax away from publicity," Pyrrha answered, "I may try to spend time with Ren and Nora as well."

"I'm heading to Mistral too. At least for the first month," Jaune said, "I wanna train as much as I can with Pyrrha. Gotta do as much as my body will let me. Then I'll be heading home to relax until school starts again."

Auron grinned at hearing that. "I think you got a pretty devoted student." He said to Pyrrha.

"I believe I do as well." Pyrrha said with a smile.

Auron turned to Jaune, keeping his grin. "You're really takin' it seriously, ain't ya?"

Jaune shrugged. "I just really want to do my best so people can hopefully leave Pyrrha alone more. That's the least I can do for her training me."

"What do you plan to do?" Pyrrha asked the team.

"We're going to each of our homes," Raine answered, "First Jace's, then Auron's, then mine, then back here for Alyss'."

"Maybe we can catch you guys in Mistral," Alyss said, "We could go visit Bell at the church too."

"It would be wonderful to see you in Mistral." Pyrrha smiled.

Auron grinned as an idea flashed in his head. "Y'know, if you want an outta the way place to train, you can go to my house," He suggested, "Mom an' dad won't mind it. Hell, dad might join in. You remember where it is, right Pyr?"

Pyrrha nodded. "I do. I wouldn't want to intrude, though."

"It's fine. You can have some damn awesome cookin' after you train," Auron insisted, "Besides, if you train in the city, you might get crowds."

"He has a good point," Nora told Pyrrha, "You know how you hate the crowds."

"That _is_ true..." Pyrrha said.

"Cookout!" Auron exclaimed, "That's what we can do too. Us, Alex an' Aulin, you guys, an' Bell. Me an' mom can do somethin' great."

"We're in!" Nora agreed instantly.

Ren let out an affectionate sigh. "I suppose we will be there."

"I would love to go," Pyrrha said, "And I suppose we'll take you up on your offer. I would rather train where we wouldn't be bothered."

"I'm good with that," Jaune agreed, "I'd want to do it where I wouldn't be distracted by people."

"Well, you'd have to watch out for Preacher," Auron laughed, "If he's there, just take everything he says with a grain o' salt."

* * *

"Is everything alright, Aulin?" Jace asked the purple-haired teen on the airship, seeing her expression looking somber.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." She sighed, resting her chin in her hands with her elbows on her knees, "I just never thought someone would welcome me to go with them like family. Bell and Inu offered, I guess that counts, but I just didn't wanna intrude on their time. I don't think a church is the right place for me and gods, I don't think a human would be welcome in Menagerie for the shit they've been through because of us. Fuck... I feel bad for saying no to them and saying yes to you. They're our team..."

"I doubt they would mind," Alyss told her, "You're going with Alex while he visits his family. They know you're not playing favorites."

"You're one of my closest friends, Aul," Jace said, "And you're dating my brother. It'd be horrible of me to ask him and not you. And besides, you said you had nowhere to go. Being with Alex is kinda changing that."

Aulin let out a smile, leaning her head onto Alex's shoulder. "Thanks. Makes me feel less like an orphan. Already feel less like one with Bell and Inu and Barrett around too," She looked down at the clothes she was wearing and sighed, "I don't guess it'll be warm, will it?" She asked, worried that her outfit of worn blue-jeans and a tight, dark purple t-shirt wouldn't be enough to keep her warm. The jeans had holes in a lot of places, mainly the knees and thighs.

"It'll be fine in the city, but it's bad outside the walls." Alex told her.

"Shit..."

"Can't you use ice with your semblance?" Raine asked her friend, "Shouldn't that make you immune to cold?"

Aulim shook her head. "I only feel cooled down when it's hot out. When it's cold, I'm cold because my semblance hasn't adapted to cold weather too much. I go out more when it's hot out. Plus I can wear less."

Alex grinned and moved to take off his heavy black coat, leaving only his thin, light-blue jacket and white button-up shirt. He handed it off to Aulin. "There you go. That should help."

Aulin took it and kissed him on the lips. "Thanks babe. I'll use it until I can buy me one. And some better pants."

"Don't feel bad, Aulin," Alyss said at Jace's side, "All I have is this hoodie." She said, remarking toward her white hoodie with black cuffs, holes cut out for her thumbs.

Jace saw the gesture by Alex and heard his girlfriend as he smiled. He took his own, dark-purple jacket off and gave it to Alyss. "Here you go. You can keep that."

"Why do you have it in the first place?" Aulin asked him, "Doesn't... _that_ help with the cold?"

Jace shrugged. "It's more so people don't ask why I'm not wearing a coat in the cold."

"Fair enough."

"Thanks, Kitten." Alyss said, folding the coat in her lap.

"I feel bad for all o' you when we get to my neighborhood." Auron laughed.

"I don't know how to feel about that." Alyss said.

"Good thing I'm used to wearing a cloak." Raine said, wrapping her plain dark-green cloak around her body.

"Gods, I can't wait to show you guys the clearing!" Jace exclaimed in excitement.

"What clearing?" Aulin asked him.

"It's a place I found when I was a kid. Dad and Gen were busy working on their vehicles and I couldn't do anyrhing to help, so I went exploring and I found it. It's amazing. I never told you guys about it before."

"What's so special about it?" Alyss asked this time.

"You go there and you can just... _forget_ ," Jace answered with a smile at telling about his favorite place, "You forget everything wrong and you can relax so much you lose track of time. It's perfectly warm there, no Grimm come near it... It's the best place in the entire world to me."

"It sounds really nice," Alyss said, "I can't wait to see it."

"Hey Jace, does dad know he'll have some extra company?" Alex asked his brother.

"Trust me, he does," Jace answered, "I don't have to tell him. I know he's expecting you. And he's expecting you too, Aulin, because... y'know. He's pretty smart and he probably expected me to ask."

"Huh..." Aulin grinned, "Your dad's something else if he just knew we would come too. Is there even gonna be enough room for all of us?"

"Genesis and Nika are gonna be there too," Jace said, "That's eight people. I'm sure we have enough room, but if not, half of us can go to the penthouse."

"You have a penthouse!? Alex and Aulin exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah," Jace grinned, "Dad got it at a discount for protecting them from the White Fang and being a Huntsman."

"Holy shit." Aulin said.

"What's the plans after we get done with our half-world tour?" Alex asked.

"We thought about going to Patch and hang out at the beach there." Alyss answered.

"I'm in," Aulin grinned, "I'll get to show off my body in a bikini to Alex and see all of you in swimsuits."

"Seriously?" Alex laughed, "Do I not satisfy you?" He asked jokingly.

"You satisfy me plenty," Aulin kissed him, "I just like more eye candy every now and then."

Alex laughed again and returned her kiss. "You're more than enough eye candy for me."

"Such romantics." Alyss giggled.

"Speaking of that," Jace said, turning to Auron and Raine, "You guys gonna ask Vivi and Shyla if they'd want to come?"

"Hmm..." Raine thought about it, "Patch is part of Vale and Vivi is assigned to Vale... She should be able to come if I ask."

"What about Shyla?" Alyss asked Auron.

"She's got a week or two to take off work if she wants..." Auron said, "She might go."

"Are you ever gonna ask her out?" Aulin asked him, "I mean, you hang out with her every chance you get."

"Yeah... I thought about it if she wants to go to the beach. I've had it on my mind for awhile."

"Remember, you might regret it if you don't." Jace told him.

Auron nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Attention passengers, we are now beginning to descend towards Atlas." The pilot said through the speakers of the airship.

"Wanna go wait with the vehicles?" Jace asked and everyone nodded, then they left to the cargo hold.

After a few minutes, the airship landed and one of the attendants opened the cargo bay doors. Jace and Auron drove their vehicles from it and drove toward Haile, Genesis, and Nika, who were waiting next to Haile's truck. Genesis and Nika were holding helmets.

The two pulled their vehicles to a stop and shut them off. Jace and Alyss jumped off _Titan_ first and Jace quickly hugged Haile and Genesis. "Hey guys." He greeted them.

"Hey, son," Haile greeted back, returning the hug along with Genesis, "You been okay?"

They separated and Jace nodded. "Just fine. I've been taking care of my arm and everything's good."

"Good job, Aly." Genesis said with a grin to Alyss.

"I do my best." Alyss laughed.

"Well, I say _I_ , but Alyss has been taking care of it." Jace grinned.

"Good job, Alyss." Haile said and gave Alyss a light hug.

"Good luck with that thing here, Auron," Genesis said as the others made their way to them, "You don't have snow chains."

Auron shrugged, grinning. "If I get stuck somewhere, I'll just get Jace to push it."

"I am not a substitute for chains." Jace protested.

"Well don't look at me," Raine said immediately, "All of you are bigger than me."

"Oh please," Aulin smirked, "That training with your bow got your arm and shoulder muscles worked up. You can lift more than me with them."

"Maybe if you'd quit focusing on squats to try to make your ass stand out, then you'd be able to lift more." Raine countered with a grin.

"You know you can't _not_ stare."

"That's not the point. I'm not pushing a truck out of snow."

"Are you checking out my girlfriend?" Alex asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Raine shrugged. "Used to. I only check out my own girlfriend these days."

Aulin laughed. "I highly doubt that."

"Bite me."

"Let me!'

While the two bickered, Haile reached into the bed of his truck and retrieved extra snow chains. "Here you go, Auron. Jace told me the size of your tires and I got chains for them. I guessed you wouldn't have any."

Auron grinned at the kind gesture. "Thanks, Haile. You _are_ pretty smart."

Haile grinned back at him. "It's about time someone notices. Do you have a jack? I can get these on for you."

"Yeah, I'll get it."

Jace watched the two for a moment before he looked back to Genesis and Nika, glancing down at what they held. "So, what's with the helmets? Did you get a motorcycle?"

Genesis nodded. "Come here and I'll show you." He said and the two left their girlfriends to talk to each other.

They walked around Haile's truck and Jace saw the motorcycle. It looked to be a modernized model of his, almost futuristic in design. It was larger in size than _Titan_ and it had a long case on the left side of it for Genesis' sword, _Standoff_.

"Jace, meet Tim."

"What?" Jace said, looking at Genesis with a look of complete confusion on his face, "You didn't seriously name it that, right?"

Genesis laughed and shook his head. "Hell no. I just wanted to see your reaction. This is _Kimura_."

" _Kimura_?"

"I like the name."

"That looks really good," Jace said, looking over every inch of the machine, "I wish I knew more about them so I could appreciate it more. Did you buy it new?"

Genesis shook his head. "Nope. I got it for five hundred lien from someone. He wrecked it and it got a bunch of bangs in it. Screwed up the starter lever too. He said it stopped working on him after that even when he could get the lever working. That's not the worst part."

"Sounds like it was bad," Jace remarked, "What else was wrong?"

"Turns out the dumbass put the wrong type of fuel and oil in it. Completely ruined the engine and everything."

"There's only two kinds of burn dust fuel for completely different things, though!" Jace said incredulously at what he heard, "I know that much at least! How was he that stupid?"

"Midlife crisis crap is my guess," Genesis said, "I got it from him and I spent every weekend working on it when I finished my homework. Nika helped me out a lot with it too. I took the engine apart, she cleaned what could be cleaned and got the dents out of the frame, then I put it back together with her help when I got the parts I needed. She's already used to riding it." He grinned, glancing back to see her and Alyss watching them talk, having their own little conversation.

"Man, maybe you should be a mechanic." Jace said.

"A Huntsman mechanic?" Genesis laughed, "More lien for me, so maybe I should."

After thirty minutes, the snow chains were put onto Auron's tires and everyone grouped up. "We're heading to the penthouse first," Haile told them, "I'm gonna try to finish my reports up for Ironwood from the latest Stalker extermination, then we'll head to the house."

"Aulin said she's concerned about room." Alex said.

"I wouldn't worry," Haile told him, "Since I got another son, I did something with one of my old storage rooms. Then there's the couches, so you'll all be okay."

"You... set up a room for me?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Of course I did," Haile grinned, "There's one for Jace and one for Gen, and I wanted one for each of you."

"He says he still isn't used to having a family," Jace said, "Told you guys he was smart."

Haile laughed a bit. "It's not that I'm smart... it's just that I want you to feel at home because you're my family now," He said to Alex, then he looked at Aulin, "And I think you're pretty close to being that too, Aulin."."

"Thanks, dad," Alex said with a smile, "I'm glad I was able to meet you."

"Same to you, Alex."

* * *

"Did you... replace me?" Jace asked his father with a small grin when they stepped into the penthouse. The question came from seeing a small, black and gray-striped cat with piercing blue eyes sitting on the back of one of the couches, just looking at them all.

Haile grinned. "I got lonely without another certain cat keeping me company."

"Huh... Your eyes match." Jace said.

"It's so adorable!" Alyss cheered.

"And she's lazy," Haile said and went over to where the cat was. He picked her up and everyone filtered into the middle of the penthouse, "Meet Lunessia."

Jace smiled and reached out, rubbing the cat's ears. "Nice to meet you, Lunessia. You replaced me." Lunessia merely _meowed_ , closing her eyes and _purring_ at the touch.

"I've never been in a place like this..." Aulin said as she looked around the large room.

"Neither have I." Alex said.

"And Jace said you got it at a discount?" Aulin asked Haile.

The Huntsman nodded. "Fifty percent for being a Huntsman. Plus twenty five for protecting it before. I'm getting it decently cheap. It's one of the lower-end penthouses too."

" _This_ is low-end?" Auron asked, wide-eyed, "Damn, I wouldn't mind seein' a high-end one. Ain't nothin' like it in Mistral."

"Definitely not in Vacuo." Alyss said and took Jace's place at petting Lunessia.

"I ordered room service on the way here," Haile said to everyone, "I'm gonna finish that report. You kids can do what you want. It shouldn't take me too long. I'll do that, we can eat, then we'll head out."

He handed Lunessia off to Alyss and moved off to the office area of the penthouse. She and Jace sat on one of the couches with Auron and Raine, then Genesis, Nika, Alex, and Aulin on the other. Genesis turned the vidcaster on and turned it to a show about motorcycles.

"This where you get your motorcycle inspiration?" Auron asked with a grin.

"Nope," Jace replied for his brother, "That comes from the movie I told you guys about."

"You keep saying stuff about it, but we've never watched it yet." Raine said.

"We never had the time," Jace said, "We can watch it sometime soon."

"If we were staying here, I'd suggest watching it now," Alyss said, "But we definitely wouldn't have time to right now."

"If you want, you could stay here tonight," Haile said from his desk, "There's no rush, but we're tight on room here. Only two bedrooms plus my bed here."

"I'm good with anywhere." Alex said.

"Same." Aulin said.

"Maybe we should go clothes shopping though," Alex suggested, "Aulin has my coat."

"And I'm in need of pants that aren't all holey." Aulin added.

"I'm sure Alex worships what's in them plenty." Nika joked.

"Oh you're definitely right." Alex laughed.

"Just like Raine with Vivi's thighs." Aulin grinned toward the apprentice.

"Aulin, are you checking out my girlfriend?" Raine asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Please, Raindrop. I check out everyone," Aulin replied, "But I only got my heart set on one." She said before she kissed Alex on the cheek.

Nika laughed at that. "Sounds romantic." She said.

"You should've heaed them on the trip over," Alyss said, "Talking about eye candy and Alex only needing Aul for that."

"Not the most conventional type of romance." Nika remarked.

"It's the best for us!" Aulin cheered.

"Hey Jace, what's wrong?" Auron asked the teen, who had his arms crossed with a look of annoyance on his face.

"I'm being replaced." He huffed, looking at the cat that Alyss was still petting.

Alyss giggled at hearing that. "Now are you getting jealous?"

"Yes."

Everyone laughed heartily, all except for Jace. From his seat, Haile chuckled a bit and just eyed his papers, tapping his pencil against it with a few small tears in his eyes.


	32. Chapter 32: Old Friends, New Family

**Chapter Thirty Two**

 **Old Friends, New Family**

Jace and Alyss laid in the former's bed at his family's home later that night. They had arrived at well past eight and played a fighting game on Jace and Genesis' game system until close to midnight. The brothers had clear advantages over most everyone else, with Raine and Auron being quick learners to the game. Alyss had lucked out and knocked Jace off the stages a few times and once, he had lost a match against her entirely only because a platform moved and prevented him from saving himself, which caused him to want an immediate rematch where the same thing ended up happening. He took a break after that loss.

"Are you really jealous?" Alyss asked Jace while they laid in each other's arms.

"No," Jace replied, turning his gaze away from her. His gaze fell down to her eyes and he smiled a bit, "...Maybe a little."

"You're worried that Lunessia is replacing you?"

"You haven't touched my ears since you saw her." Jace pouted.

"Aww, poor Kitten," Alyss giggled and kissed his cheek, "You'll never be replaced by anyone or anything. I've just never had a pet before and I wanted to pet her a lot since we won't be staying. You're my only Kitten."

"And you're mine, no matter how much Lunessia tries to keep us from cuddling." Jace grinned.

Alyss put her haid against his chest and _purred_ lightly. "Your house is nice. It's quiet here."

"It really is. Sometime tomorrow, I'll take you guys back to that clearing. I'm sure you'll love it there." Jace said with a smile.

"Are we gonna lose track of time?"

"Probably. Might be smart to take sleeping bags."

"Is it that bad?"

"I wouldn't say _bad_ ," Jace chuckled, "I want to lose track of time all the time when I'm with you."

"Me too."

Jace sighed. "Dad hasn't really been acting normal. I'm worried."

"How can you tell?" Alyss asked.

"He hasn't really talked with us much since we got here," Jace shook his head, "He would normally talk with everyone even if he had reports to finish. He's been working on that same one."

"Maybe something bad happened and he doesn't want to tell you guys." Alyss said.

"Even so, he'd still talk about anything else. He kinda looks... sad," Jace sighed, "You guys might not see it, but I can. I'm sure Gen can too. I'll wait until he's ready to tell us whatever is bugging him."

* * *

The next day, everyone had a great time. Jace had suggested they set up a makeshift range for everyone to just shoot the different weapons everyone had. Jace had dug up his pistol, _Ebon_ , and Genesis had found his revolver, _Atronach_ , and they fired them as well. Haile even let everyone try out Carnage, his large double-barrel, pump-action shotgun. Auron tool first go and fired both barrels, loving the kick against his shoulder and Raine tried it out, much to the amusement of everyone else. She had taken the kick of the gun nearly like Auron, only being shaken mildly while Aulon fell backwards into Alex when she tried, leaving everyone laughing. After awhile, Haile went inside, then came back out with a large battle axe and a double-barreled dust rifle.

"Hey Jace, Gen, you know what these are?" He asked the two.

"That's..." Jace went wide-eyed at seeing them, "An _AGR_!?"

"And a _TBR_?" Genesis said, looking just as shocked as his brother.

"And what are those?" Alex asked them.

Haile handed the axe to Jace and the teen held it lightly. _"Shoulder Mounted Anti-Grimm Rifle_. _AGR_ for short." Jace answered.

"And this is a _Twin Barrel Dust Rifle_ ," Genesis said and took the rifle, "Or just _TBR_. If I didn't make _Standoff_ , I was gonna try to get one to modify. But then a lot got stolen and that seemed doubtful."

"There's more of those than these," Jace said in wonder as he transformed the axe into its artillery rifle form, "All that were made were stolen, but... How did you get these, dad?" He asked Haile.

Haile sighed. "You guys come inside for a few minutes. There's a lot I have to tell Jace and Gen."

"What's wrong?" Jace asked him.

"It's... my old team."

Haile walked back into the house and the others followed after retrieving their weapons. They all crowded in the living room where they sat on the couches around the coffee table, where a bottle and nine glasses sat.

"Do you boys remember Axel, June, and Johnny?" Haile asked Jace and Genesis.

"Of course," Genesis replied easily, "They were your teammates and Axel is your brother. They visited a few times when we were kids and June always played with Jace."

"I remember them," Jace said with a smile, "Johnny and June were like family."

Haile smiled at hearing that, but it dropped to a small frown. "And you know Johnny and June were married since before I found you both. Well, Johnny found these guns awhile back and he fixed them up to keep them. He said that..." Haile closed his eyes as they grew blurry and he took a deep breath, "H-he said they would go to me when he passed. To give to you two since you've wanted them so much."

"Johnny... He died?" Jace asked, his expression from a few moments before falling away.

Haile nodded slowly. "He kind of... shut down after June died last year. I didn't know about it until I got a letter from their daughter. I wanted to wait until the _AGR_ and _TBR_ got here before I told you. Then... I-i got this too," He picked the bottle of what looked to be old bourbon, sealed tight and never opened. The text on the wrap that was on the bottle had faded out over the years, "I didn't expect it. Back in our second year twenty years ago, we found a case of this stuff hidden in a cave we had to take shelter in from a bad storm. Our chaperone said we could keep it as long as he got a couple bottles, and we took it back to Beacon and kept it hidden..."

"Now Oz, I'm sure he wouldn't have cared as long as we were careful, and we were. But his assistant back then was stricter than Goodwitch. We really had to hide it from her. After a few months, we were down to the last bottle. Then, Johnny came up with a plan. He said that it would go to Axel since he was the leader. But..." Haile looked at the bottle and sighed, "Th-the last one of us would be the one to drink it. To remember the times we shared."

"Does that mean..." Genesis started, seeing the sadness in his father's eyes, "Axel died too?"

"I-I got two letters with the bottle. One said he died protecting escaping villagers from a big group of Grimm and a Beringel," Haile told them both, "It was over in Anima. Up in the colder, snowy parts in a village called Miras. He was able to take one of it's arms off according to whoever was with him. The other letter was from him, basically... b-basically a suicide note," Haile took a long breath and let it out unevenly, "I-it said he was gonna be dead by the time this got to me. His wife died three years ago because of a group of Grimm attacking their village while he wasn't there. Jace and Gen know that..."

Haile took a short break as his eyes blurred even more. "He was a different person after that. Always sad. He rarely talked to me anymore, let alone anyone else. He kept fighting Grimm, never careful and always more reckless until one ended his lonliness, and that was the Beringel... Me having this bottle and those weapons... That means I'm the last one of my team... and the last of my blood family. Th-they're all gone..."

"I-I'm sorry to hear that, Haile..." Alyss said quietly, wiping at her tear-filled eyes.

"It's alright, Alyss..." Haile told her and sighed loudly, "I-I never thought it would be this tough to deal with. That's why it took those reports so long to finish."

"Hey, you had to raise two kids that aren't even related to you, and one's a Faunus," Alex said lightly, "I'm sure you can get through this, right? It's completely different... but you know how to handle tough situations."

"The hardest thing I've dealt with is my dog dyin' a couple years ago," Auron said sadly, "Hell, man... I don't know what to say."

"I've never had to deal with something like this yet..." Raine said in a quiet voice, "I just started training to be a Ranger a couple years ago and every single one is my friend. We're all like a big family. If one of them died, then I'd be hurt. Especially if it was Emowyn, dad, grandpa, or Gilan..."

"I think the only one's that actually know what you're going through are Gen and Nika," Aulin said to Haile, looking down in sadness, "I mean... I'm sure the other two on your team were like family, and they lost people they care about too."

Genesis and Nika both sighed. "Yeah, we have," Nika said, "It _does_ get easier over time, but you never forget. I never bothered buying or making another sword because my little brother made mine before he died. He made it and I'm using it, no matter what."

"I wish I had something like that to remember mom and dad by," Genesis said, "But what memories I have from our time together, I'm doing my best to never forget, even though I barely remember their faces now..."

"I know I shouldn't lose myself, and I won't. They wouldn't want that," Haile said and opened the bottle up. He poured each glass enough for one drink before he set the bottle back down, "All of you kids are a godsend to this world, and I mean that. Without Jace and Gen, I wouldn't have made it this far to be able to remember my friends like this. Alex, I accepted you as my son because both of them know what it feels like, and none of us wanted to see you suffer alone. Aulin, you stick with Alex, and you're welcome too. Take care of each other. Everyone take a glass..."

All of them took a glass for themselves and held them, each staring into the amber liquid. "All of you stick close to your teams. They'll be your family like Johnny and June were mine and Axel's. Alyss," Haile looked at the cat Faunus at his son's side and smiled, "You take care of Jace. Jace, you do the same for her."

"I-I promise I will." Alyss said firmly.

"And so will I." Jace said.

"Gen, Nika, you do the same with each other," Haile said to the red-haired couple and they nodded wordlessly, "Raine, you do the same with Vivi and Auron, you take care of whoever you decide to be with," The two nodded and Haile looked upwards toward the heavens as he raised his glass, "This drink... This drink is for old friends and new family... It's for new memories and the memories of days gone by."

Haile finished his toast as tears fell down his cheeks. He lifted the glass up to his lips and everyone else followed. After a moment, they swallowed the bourbon and set the glasses back on the coffee table. They all stayed silent as they bowed their heads, thinking of lost family, promises they kept, those still with them, new days, and the friends they each had made.

Haile raised his vision back to everyone and he smiled. "This... is better than I remember. What did all of you think?"

"It's... pretty good." Genesis said and everyone agreed.

"I'm honored that you included us..." Nika said to Haile, "The ones that aren't family..."

"Yeah, so am I," Aulin said, "Thanks, Haile."

Alyss wiped at her eyes with the top of her hand and she smiled. "I am too. Thank you, Haile."

"I feel like this is somethin' that your family should be the only ones to be part of," Auron said quietly, "The fact you brought us in makes me feel... pretty great. It honestly makes me think o' you as part o' my family, man. The drink was great."

"I already respected you when you helped Emowyn," Raine said, "I feel like Auron. I want to think of you as family too."

Haile smiled at hearing that. "Thank you. All of you live your lives to the fullest and be yourselves. Be yourselves and be like no one else. Help whoever you can, and just be happy more than anything. And always remember the ones you love."

* * *

"I didn't expect this." Alex said when the group of nine stepped into the boundaries of the clearing, feeling the cold wash away and their energy from walking replenish.

"I never knew about this spot until Jace went out that one day," Haile said, "I never had a reason to come back here before then."

"It's just like how he described it," Aulin said as she looked at the standing stone, "I already feel pretty relaxed."

"Man, my house is in a clearin' an' there ain't anything like this around." Auron remarked.

"Maybe we should all sit down and talk instead of stand," Jace grinned at them all and led Alyss closer to the water. They stopped next to it and Jace dropped to his knees, putting his hands together over his chest as he prayed silently. After a few moments, he sat down and Alyss sat next to him, "The worst thing about moving to Vale is I can't come here whenever I want."

"Why haven't you ever showed me this place, Gen?" Nika asked the emerald-eyed teen.

"I never gave it much thought with how busy we were with _Kimura_ ," Genesis shrugged, "It's probably better to be here when we don't have to worry about schoolwork anyway."

"It's beautiful..." Alyss said in wonder.

"If you think it's beautiful now, wait until it gets dark," Haile told her, "It's... I can't really describe it."

"I'd say it's like we're not even on Remnant." Jace said.

"That good?" Raine asked.

"That good." Jace affirmed.

"Rangers have maps of just about everywhere in the world," Raine said, "There's nothing about this place though, or anywhere like it."

"Maybe they thought it was best if it was kept secret," Genesis said, "It would be bad if people died in the cold just to try to find this place. I guess dad lucked out when he had our house built."

"I think I really did." Haile agreed.

Everyone sat in front of the small pond and just relaxed. After a few moments more, Haile took his leave before he lost track of time so he could take care of Lunessia and be at his home in case someone visited the house. Aulin and Alex leaned against each other, resting their heads together. Genesis and Nika were laying down, Nika's head laying against Genesis' shoulder. Raine sat cross legged near the stream that ran into the pond, enjoying the sound of the running water. Auron laid down, looking toward the sky with his hat laying over his chest. And Alyss laid with her torso across Jace's lap as he sat up, scritching her ears and causing her to _purr_ softly.

She had her eyes closed and wore a smile on her lips. Jace looked down at her face and smiled at how beautiful and peaceful she looked. Just being with her every day made him feel at peace, a thing he's said many times before and a thing he was sure the others were tired of hearing. But he truly felt that way. He couldn't help but say it.

 _"She's the most gorgeous girl..."_ Jace thought to himself rather dreamily _, "I'm so glad I met her. If it wasn't for her... I don't know if I would want to keep doing this after losing my arm. You're everything to me, Alyss."_

Jace started thinking more the longer he looked at her. He started thinking about possibly taking everything further with her. Taking their relationship beyond just being boyfriend and girlfriend. He thought back to the things he had read of Faunus relationships. He wanted then, more than anything, to be her mate and for her to be his. He wanted it, but he didn't know how to even ask her.

 _"It would be so amazing,"_ He smiled at the thought of it, _"Gods... She's just so wonderful."_

Alyss' eyes opened and she saw the smile on Jace's face as he looked at her. "What are you thinking about with that smile?" She asked him.

"Nothing much. Just how beautiful you are." Jace answered.

Alyss giggled and reached her hand up to rub one of his ears. "That's sweet. You're sweet."

"I have to do my best. Can't let you be the sweet one all the time." Jace grinned and _purred_.

Alyss _hummed_ and closed her eyes again. "I love this place. Thanks for bringing us here."

"Don't thank me yet. You haven't seen the best part."

* * *

As night began to fall on Remnant, everyone paid attention for what Jace kept talking about. When the sun finally dipped low enough, the standing stone emitted a heavenly glow, illuminating the water around it and making it look like it was glowing as well. When the sun fully dropped and night fully came, the stone and the water glowed brightly, illuminating the whole clearing.

"I'd say this would be a good time to lay out our sleeping bags." Genesis said to Jace with a grin.

"Good call," Jace grinned back and moved to lay his out, "So, what do you think now, Kitten?" He asked his girlfriend.

"It's..." Alyss was at a loss for words as she took in the sight before her.

Jace shook his head with a smile on his face as he finished with his bag. As Alyss was entranced, he worked to set hers up as well. "Anyone have anything to say about it?" He asked everyone else.

"It's fuckin' awesome." Auron said, content to just lay where he was.

"What he said." Raine said, moving closer to the others to lay her sleeping bag out.

"I kinda wanna stay here for like... a long time." Aulin said.

"Same." Alex agreed.

Everyone laid their sleeping bags out and just stared around the area. The fireflies came out and flew around everywhere, mostly sticking close to the stone. Every time the fireflies flew around Alyss, she went to grab at them but they flew just out of her reach, leaving Jace laughing lightly as his eyes chased each one. The the light from the stone reflected off the water in a beautiful way, casting the light around more.

"Remind me again why you've never brought me here." Nika said to Genesis, finally taking her eyes off the stone.

Genesis grinned. "My motorcycle, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Nika leaned into Genesis' shoulder, closing her eyes peacefully.

"I would love to bring mom here," Alyss said to Jace, "She would just love it."

"And you?" Jace asked.

"It's the most beautiful place I've ever been to or even seen. I don't know any way else to describe it..." Alyss voice softened to reflect her tranquil mood, finally catching one of the fireflies, "It made me think a lot." She opened her hand and the bug gave off it's yellow glow before flying away, then she returned to sitting still with Jace.

"Me too," Jace replied, "We can definitely ask Lilith if she'd ever wanna make a trip up here. Dad's truck can fit through the path easy, so she wouldn't have to walk."

"Good. I don't want her being out where Grimm could attack. Speaking of that..." Alyss looked at Jace curiously, "We _are_ safe to sleep here, right?"

"When I was here right before we started at Atlas, a Beowulf followed me," Jace started, grinning, "When I got here in the clearing, I heard it growl and I turned to it. It absolutely would _not_ try to attack me or anything. It wouldn't even step into the clearing. I don't even think it saw me after I got here, honestly. I looked at it and it sniffed around, then it just walked off. So I think we're pretty safe."

Alyss smiled and rubbed her head against his shoulder. "Good. I don't really want to have to worry about Grimm while I'm cuddling with you."

"Same over here!" Aulin called out cheerfully.

* * *

The next day, after a night of peaceful sleeping, the soon-to-be second-year students returned to the house where Haile had already prepared breakfast for everyone. Then, Jace and Genesis set up the movie that Jace had told his friends about. Tears were shed at multiple parts in the movie by most of the group, Jace being one of the main ones that had next to Alyss. After the movie was finished at midnight, they all retired to wherever they slept. The day after that, they decided to go out into the city for a few hours. They all just decided to take Auron's truck, mostly so they wouldn't draw attention with a small convoy of three vehicles.

"Where are we even goin'?" Auron asked the Atlesians of the group, speaking through the open back window. Since Jace and Genesis had their dust and semblance respectively, they sat in the bed with their girlfriends. The two girls clung closely to their personal heaters, who didn't mind in the slightest. While Alyss kept Jace's jacket, she gave him her hoodie to wear to cover his arms up. It was tight, but Jace wore it, appreciating the gesture and loving the faint scent of cherry on it.

"Weapon museum first," Genesis said through the open window, "I haven't been there yet since it just opened a couple months ago. I've been waiting for Jace so we could go together since he likes this sort of thing a lot more."

"It does seem interesting," Alyss said, "It's supposed to have weapons from and before the Great War."

"So nothing like artillery claymores or anything like that?" Alex asked.

"Or sniper-scythes or lever-action claymores." Nika added.

"One of a kind!" Auron exclaimed.

"I'm perfectly happy with my whip." Aulin said.

"I like my katana." Alex said.

"And I'm good with my sword." Nika said.

"The only problems I'm gonna have today will be racists because I know we're gonna attract them." Raine said in annoyance.

"Just ignore them the best you can," Alyss advised, "I doubt they're too happy if they're just being blatantly racist toward us."

"I can try my best to ignore them if you want me to," Jace told her, "But I swear if someone tries to hurt you..."

Alyss rubbed her head against his shoulder, easing his mind. "I don't think Ironwood would take too kindly to that, being students from another kingdom and all."

"Or one of his former students," Genesis added, looking at Jace, "Especially after you've been through so much shit."

"Maybe seeing three huge swords will tell people not to try stupid stuff with us." Aulin said.

"I guess we'll just have to see what happens." Raine said.

They arrived at their destination and Auron pulled his truck to a stop. Everyone got out and stretched their limbs before they entered the gallery. After dealing with a surprisingly friendly receptionist, the group explored around. They all separated to different smaller exhibits. Jace and Alyss found different greatswords and glaives, where Jace saw something called an ultra greatsword, which had to have been made for a giant since it was almost twice as large as Jace's artillery claymore.

Auron explored around the revolvers and old lever-action rifles. Raine looked over the bows and arrows, taking an arrow out of her quiver and compared it to the ancient styled arrow heads. Alex and Aulin looked over different katanas from Menagerie and other places, seeing the different styles each continent and kingdom had for them. And Genesis and Nika looked at old artillery pieces in the larger area of the gallery.

"An ultra greatsword, huh..." Jace tilted his head and took _Legacy_ off his back. He held it long-ways up to the glass in front of the huge weapon and compared their sizes. It was half a foot wider than _Legacy_ and nearly four feet longer. The blade in the case was made of black, polished stone with metal going down the middle of the blade from the hilt. The hilt itself was red, almost a foot long with a ring of metal for a pommel.

"Feeling inadequate?" Alyss asked playfully.

"I don't know what I'm feeling," Jace said and replaced his sword onto his back, "All I know is I'd like to meet the person who made it."

"Doubtful he'd want to meet a freak like you..." Someone said behind them in a hushed tone, making his female companion giggle.

Jace's ears flattened against his skull and his tail's fur bristled as he wrapped it around his waist. "Fucking great..." He mumbled under his breath.

Alyss sighed and squeezed his hand a bit. "Remember what I said?"

"Yeah, they probably aren't happy with themselves, so I shouldn't get mad..." Jace sighed, relaxing when he squeezed her hand back.

"I wonder if they have litters..." The woman asked the other person, "Oh! I wonder how many siblings they have! Do you think they have heat cycles?"

"I dunno. Probably, though. Cats usually do, don't they?"

Jace closed his eyes and breathed deeply, keeping himself calm as Alyss laid her head on his shoulder. "Just try your best, sweetie." She whispered to him.

"I'm so glad you're here, Aly." Jace whispered back.

The man laughed behind them. "Do you think their parents fucked a lot? I mean, how else would one have two traits?"

The woman snickered. "Do you think _they_ fuck a lot? Or is that just rabbits?"

"Okay, that is none of your fucking business!" Jace snapped, finally losing his temper and turning to face the two people. They actually looked his age, the boy with black hair and the girl with lighter brown, "Why don't you two shut your mouths about things you don't know anything about."

"Oh, we made the kitty mad." The teen laughed.

"You don't deserve to call me that..." Jace growled at her.

Alyss squeezed his hand, looking at the two people curiously. "Are you obsessed with Faunus or something?"

"What?" The boy asked, "Why would we be obsessed with animals?"

Alyss chuckled. "You sit there, wondering if we go through heat and if we have sex a lot. That's honestly really creepy."

"So you think I have a thing for animals?" The boy asked and shook his head, "That's rich. What human in their right mind would want to be with you?"

"It certainly sounds like you do," Alyss grinned at the boy as he began to sputter angrily, trying and failing to find words to say. She pulled on Jace's arm, noticing the smirk on his lips, "C'mon, Jace. Let's go find the others," Alyss said, pulling on Jace's arm, "Let's just let them be sad by themselves."

"Aww, she thinks we're sad!" The girl laughed, "I guess that's why I'm laughing, right hon?"

"Y-yeah, that's it," The boy began to grin, then it turned to a frown, "Why don't you animals just leave before something bad happens, huh?"

"Bad like what..." Jace said, losing his smirk and taking half a step before Alyss squeezed his arm, "Like your face being put through the glass here?"

"You might not wanna do that, Faunus," The teen grinned again, "I don't think our headmaster would take too kindly to someone fighting his students. You know who he is, right?"

"Yeah. General Ironwood," Genesis said as he walked up to them, "My headmaster too. What do you think he'd do if he found out you two we're being racist to two foreign students?"

"But we weren't being racist!" The girl said, feigning hurt, "We saw them try to open up that case and we confronted them! Why would you think we were being racist?"

"Oh I don't know... Maybe because we heard you call his brother and his girlfriend animals..." Nika said at Genesis' side, glaring at them both.

"What seems to be the problem, here?" An old, raspy, gravely voice asked as an old man arrived, looking annoyed.

"Oh, you must be the head curator, right?" The girl asked the man.

He nodded. "I am. Gransys McMahon. What is the problem that has you yelling in _my_ gallery?" He asked more firmly.

"Well, we caught these four trying to open that case up," The boy said, "We confronted them and-"

"Don't you lie to me, boy!" Gransys growled, "I was watching their group through the cameras. They did not try to open my case..."

"Before these two can try to worm out of this..." Raine said behind the two in question, causing them to jump and bolt around, "I have something you should see, sir." She finished and slid her hood off her head, flicking her fox ears from the freedom.

"Who might you be, miss?" Gransys asked.

"Just a Faunus trying to stick up for its friends." The girl said, letting her true feelings slip a bit in front of the curator, earning a glare from both the curator and Raine.

"I'm Raine Daturas. Apprentice Ranger," Raine introduced herself to the old man, ignoring the girl, "I took a video of what happened. Before you do anything, you should see it."

"Then let's see it." Gransys demanded and Raine handed her scroll over with the video already up.

After a few moments, the curator handed the scroll back to her, glaring intensly at the two teens. "Get out of my gallery."

"What!?" The boy yelled, "You're taking the side of these animals and that freak!?" He pointed at Genesis.

"What? I'm a freak for my brother being a Faunus?" Genesis asked, glaring daggers at him.

"I will not tolerate any racism here, or liars for that matter," Gransys said to the two, "This is not a verbal sparring ground. This is a gallery of the world's ancient weaponry. This place is for learning, not hate. Both of you get out before my patience runs thinner."

"Hey Raine, why don't you send that video to my scroll," Jace said to his partner, "I think I could send it to Ironwood. Maybe he could do something."

"Oh bullshit you know him like that!" The boy yelled.

"He's told me a lot about how to deal with my prosthetic," Jace shot back, "I used to be his student. You think I wouldn't be close to him?" His scroll buzzed and he pulled it out, seeing he recieved the video.

Since the two remained unmoving, Jace went to his contacts. He went to his old headmaster's secretary and called.

"You've reached the secretary of General James Ironwood. What is your business?"

Jace had it on speaker and grinned when he saw the faces of the two teens go pale. "Hello, this is Haile Reznor's son, Jace. Could I talk with the General? It's urgent."

"I will see if he is available..." The man said and put Jace on hold.

"Okay, I'll put you through to him." The secretary said after a few moments.

"Hello Jace. Is there something you need?"

"Hello sir. I was wondering if it would be okay to send a video to your personal scroll..." As soon as Jace asked, the two teens left in a hurry with the boy pulling the girl along.

"What video?" Ironwood asked.

"Two people me and Alyss had to deal with for being Faunus. We're in Atlas with the others for the week and they're your students."

Ironwood gave an audible, annoyed sigh. "Send me the video. I will tell them when school resumes that I will not tolerate racism or aggression against foreign students. I shouldn't need to, but it seems I do."

"Thank you, sir. I was close to really snapping at them before the curator of the weapon gallery came out and stopped it."

"Is that all you needed?" Ironwood asked.

"Yes sir. Thank you."

The call was ended and Jace took a deep breath as he quickly sent the video. He let the breath out slowly and Gransys sighed. "Are you both alright?" He asked Jace and Alyss, " You have the patience of a saint to deal with them for so long without losing your temper."

"I wouldn't call it patience on my part," Jace said, "I just have a great girlfriend that makes me calm."

"I'm glad she is here then. I'd rather not have a Faunus pay for damages to one of my displays. It would most likely make me look bad to other Faunus. You may call me Grant, by the way," Grant told the small group, "I wish people would see this as a place of learning. I never wanted hate to be brought here. It isn't welcome and I hope that won't deter you from visiting again."

"It's fine, sir," Alyss assured him, "Umm... Why exactly were you watching us in the cameras?"

Grant laughed. "I couldn't very well let a group of armed people be here without being watched. But now that I know an apprentice Ranger is with you, I know you won't cause trouble."

"If anything, we'd help prevent trouble." Genesis said.

"I won't lie and say I only thought you were bluffing about calling the General." Grant said to Jace.

"It wasn't a lie," Jace said and rolled the sleeve of Alyss' hoodie over his left arm up, revealing his prosthetic, "He _did_ tell me different ways I can clean and oil and take care of my prosthetic. I was his student too, like I said."

"Ah. I suppose I will let you all return to looking around," Grant told them, "I will remember you all the next time you visit."

* * *

"Thank Oum we found this place." Jace said in remarks to the Faunus-friendly restaurant they had found later that day. He said that after they had eaten their food, only finishing their drinks.

"After what you told us, I am too," Auron said, "If I was over that way, I might've knocked the shit outta that guy."

"And I would've done the same to the girl." Aulin added.

"It was cool to be there though," Alyss said, "Did you guys see that ultra greatsword?"

"It's twice as big as _Legacy_." Jace said, still in awe of it.

"So three times as big as Raine?" Alex asked with a grin.

"That's... actually pretty accurate." Raine said.

Auron and Aulin laughed. "Yeah, I saw it. I wonder who made the freakin' thing." Aulin said.

"It would be awesome to meet whoever did, but that's not happening," Jace said, "I wonder if anyone uses a sword that big these days."

"Closest are you, Gen, and Yatsuhashi," Alex said, "Length-wise though, Inu's sword can be just about as long as that sword. What was that one called anyway?"

"I think it was called..." Alyss thought back to it, " _Calamity_? I think that was it."

"Oh right! It was supposed to be carved from a big meteorite that destroyed the person's village," Jace said with a grin, "Must be a really heavy sword."

"If we ever go there again, do you think the old guy would let you hold it?" Aulin asked.

"That would be awesome, but I doubt it," Genesis replied, "I doubt he'd want to take the risk of someone damaging one of his exhibits."

"I would like to. Just to actually feel how heavy it is." Jace sighed.

"I guess you'll never know," Aulin smirked, "Must be hard knowing there's a sword that's way bigger than yours out there."

"His sword is perfectly fine, thank you." Alyss said, speaking before she realized who she was replying too.

"Ooh Alyss, what have you two been up to?" Aulin asked, wiggling her eyebrows at her.

"Th-that is none of your business!"

* * *

The rest of the week went by too quickly for Jace and Genesis' tastes as it was time for Jace and the others to leave. "You sure you don't wanna come to Auron's with us?" Jace asked his older brother, "There's gonna be a cookout."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Genesis replied, "I hate all the flying and turbulence over the oceans. You know I don't fly well."

"You really need to try to get over that."

"I've been trying as best I can. I feel like I'm getting better, though."

"Why exactly are you taking that _AGR_ with you if you already have a mobile artillery piece?" Haile asked Jace.

"Because we're going to Patch in a few weeks," Jace answered and set the large case in the back of Auron's truck, "We have a friend that's crazy about weapons. She'll lose her mind when I show her."

"Have fun with that, then." Haile grinned.

"It was good seeing you guys again," Alex said to Haile, Genesis, and Nika, "It's good to have a place to call home, now."

"And his home is my home, so I'm glad too," Aulin said at his side, "It's really awesome."

"I mean it that you're welcome at our house just as much as Alex," Haile smiled, "Same goes to all of you too." He said to Jace's team.

"You're welcome to go visit mom an' dad too," Auron said, "They'd be glad to meet ya. Hell, you're invited to that cookout too. Still need to talk to mom about that though."

Haile shrugged. "I'll think about it, but I might have another extermination lined up."

"And I'm sure dad would like to talk to you without preparing for a mission." Raine added.

"I'll have to make some trips sometime then." Haile said

"Do you think it would be okay for my mom to come up here sometime?" Alyss asked the aging Huntsman, "I really want her to see the clearing."

Haile nodded. "Of course it's alright. If she's as nice as you then she's more than welcome here too."

Alyss smiled. "Well, everyone calls her ' _mom_ ', so she's pretty friendly."

"That's where Aly gets it from." Jace said.

"Just give her my number to let me know if she's coming," Haile said, then sighed, "I guess it's about time for you guys to go. It was nice having all of you here."

"It was nice being here," Alex said, "It's good to be in Atlas without a team of dumbasses making things difficult. I do wonder how they're doing, though."

"Probably bad if everything you said is true." Aulin said.

"Is it bad that I don't remember their names?"

"Nope."

"I'm happy everyone liked it here," Haile said to everyone, "It sucks you had to deal with a couple of racists, but it's Atlas. Comes with the territory."

"It wasn't that bad," Alyss said, "I think three people with big swords kept a lot more of it from coming."

"Either that or they noticed the Ranger emblem on the back of Raine's cloak." Aulin said.

"Maybe a combination of both." Nika grinned.

"Either way, racists suck," Jace said, "I guess we'll see you guys later."

"You kids be safe," Haile told them all, "Remember when you're in Calm to get a checkup on your arm." He said to Jace.

"I will. My Pretty Kitty won't let me forget." Jace grinned.

"She's the one that cleans and oils it anyway." Raine said.

"She's really good at it and she can get what I can't." Jace added.

"Good. I think you're in good hands." Haile said.


	33. Chapter 33: Gunslinger Reunion

**Chapter Thirty Three**

 **Gunslinger Reunion**

"It's so hot..." Alyss whined.

"I'm glad I switched back to what I was wearing on the way to Atlas." Aulin said.

"So am I," Alex grinned, wearing only a pair of black cargo shorts and a white t-shirt, still keeping the sheath for _Celosia_ on his left forearm, "But yeah. It's fucking hot."

"Welcome to Mistral." Auron laughed.

"I don't know why I care about the heat," Aulin said, shaking her head, "It doesn't bother me. I'm pretty cool right now."

"Yet you still got cold when we were in Atlas." Jace laughed.

"It's not fair!" Aulin whined, "I just need more practice with it. At least I won't be going back to Atlas for awhile."

"Maybe it does just need to adapt," Jace offered, "When the tournament comes again, we can ask Gen if he gets really hot here."

"Okay, let's do that if we can remember." Aulin replied.

"I think we should grab somethin' to eat before we head to the house," Auron said, "I know a pretty decent place for a snack."

"Does it have air conditioning?" Alyss asked.

"I'm pretty sure they do. After that, we can stop by a clothes store so you can get some ice dust clothes."

"Awesome," Alex said, "I'm getting me a pair of pants. I'm not a fan of wearing shorts unless I'm sleeping in them."

"Or..." Jace spoke up, "I can do this and save you lien."

"What are you talking about?" Alyss asked, looking at him in confusion. After a few moments, she started feeling significantly cooler than before and the heat didn't bother her at all.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked Jace, "It's a lot cooler now."

"It's something I've been practicing with in my spare time," Jace told them with a grin, "I'm focusing ice dust in me and sending it out with my aura. If anyone else asks, it's just dust in my clothes."

"Just to let you know, Emowyn probably told Auron's parents about everything," Raine said, "You shouldn't have to hide it around them."

"That's good. I really hate saying it." Jace said.

"Maybe we should get goin'," Auron said to everyone, "It's just gonna get hotter if we stand out here."

"Well as long as I have my air conditioning Kitty Cat, then I'm fine with how long we take." Alyss giggled.

"I have a feeling I'm gonna like it here." Jace grinned and kissed Alyss on the cheek.

"What makes you say that?" Raine asked.

"Because Alyss is gonna be even closer to me so she can cool off," Jace replied, "But it won't be all the time. I'm already kinda getting tired with it."

"Oh it's fine," Alyss told him, "Don't wear yourself out for my sake."

"Yeah. Save that for the bedroom." Aulin grinned.

"Aulin!"

* * *

"Don't you think you should wear somethin' over your arm?" Auron asked his leader as the two and Raine waited outside a clothes store for the others, noticing the black sleeveless shirt Jace opted to wear, "Y'know, to keep people from askin' about it?"

"I don't mind when I explain it," Jace said, "It's not like I'm proud of it. It's just that I really don't mind. Besides, I don't have to worry about a sleeve getting caught in the joints."

"Has that happened before?" Raine asked.

Jace shook his head. "No, not yet. I'm sure it wouldn't be too much of a problem if I got used to it. Most of the joints are covered anyway, but I'm just being safe with it."

"What are you gonna do about your combat outfit?" Auron asked him, "If it had one now, the sleeve would go over you left arm. Weird now that I think about it."

"Yeah... that's pretty weird," Raine agreed, "Kinda like some..."

"Foreshadowin' shit." Auron finished for her.

"Huh..." Jace pursed his lips, "I never thought of it like that... It _is_ weird. I'll probably just put another sleeve on it when I get the chance. I never got around to doing that yet."

After a few more minutes, their friends came out of the store. "This already feels a lot better." Alex said. Now he wore a pair of blue jeans and a jacket like his regular one.

"Yeah, now you guys don't have to use Jace too much." Aulin said with a grin.

"Y'all are a bunch o' pansies," Auron laughed at them, "Here I am wearin' this duster all the damn time an' I ain't bothered." He said and unlocked his truck.

"And I usually wear my cloak outside of class." Raine added.

"And both of them probably have ice dust in them to help out." Alyss retorted. She wore a thigh-length black skirt and a purple t-shirt with a pair of white sneakers.

"Yep." Raine admitted easily.

"Alright, let's all get on the road," Auron said, ignoring the accusation completely, "Mom an' dad are expectin' us any time. I think mom's really wantin' to know how that turned out for you, Jace."

"About the pie?" Jace asked.

"Yeah."

"The pie that you need to make again," Alyss told Jace, "Do that and I'll give you all kinds of treats. Don't start, Aul."

"Didn't plan on it, Aly." Aulin chuckled.

"Just so all o' you know," Auron started, "Mom hate's cussin'. If you slip, you might get a pass once, but you keep doin' it an' she'll throw ya outside for a day. Understand?"

"So no screaming ' _oh fuck_ ' at night?" Aulin laughed.

"It's not too ideal," Auron replied, "Try not to be doin' that stuff while we're here. At least not in the house. Walls are kinda thin. Plenty o' room outside though. Plus there's the workshop."

"I-I think that's enough, Auron." Alyss laughed nervously as she blushed.

"I wish Vivi was here." Raine said with a sigh.

"Can we please stop talking about stuff like this in public?" Alyss asked, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, quit making my Kitten uncomfortable." Jace said and lifted Alyss up into the back of his motorcycle, eliciting an ' _eep_ ' from her. He set _Legacy_ in its case on the side and hopped onto it in front of Alyss.

"Did you really have to grab me and put me on _Titan_ like that?" Alyss asked.

"No." Jace replied simply.

"You know you can't wait until you two can do it again." Aulin told them as she opened one of the back doors of the truck.

"That's... beside the point." Jace said quietly.

Everyone else got in Auron's truck and he drove from the clothes store, Jace following closely. After thirty minutes, they passed through the walls of Mistral and hit the open road toward the south.

"Hey Alyss..." Jace called back behind him over the roar of his motorcycle.

"What is it, Jace?" Alyss asked.

"I've been thinking... about what those two people said back in Atlas," Jace started, "I'm just... kinda curious. Do some Faunus go through heat cycles?" He asked nervously, "Nothing I've read mentioned it..."

"Well..." Alyss _hummed_ a bit in thought, "It's extremely rare for it to happen. Me and mom don't, although I guessed you noticed I don't."

"Yeah, I did." Jace chuckled uneasily.

"It would only happen one week out of a year. It's like a mutation in the DNA," Alyss explained, "Like what Vivi has with her tail and ears but more rare, like I said. It's a bit less rare for cat, dog, and rabbit Faunus though. One of mom's friends had to go through it in school. She said it was difficult for her to deal with without a boyfriend. It was when I was a kid, so she never told me it was so her friend could have sex to make the heat subside. But no, not all Faunus have to deal with heat cycles."

Jace sighed. "I guess that doesn't help with people like those two..." He shook his head, "Well, hopefully Lilith's friend is handling it good. I'm sure it must be hell."

"There _is_ special medicine now for any Faunus that goes through it. It's expensive most of the time though, so it doesn't help that much."

Jace sighed again and bit back a growl. "I fucking hate it when people try to make a profit off someone's problems."

"I doubt they make a lot of profit. A lot of the humans that sell it tend to make it high priced. But if a good human or Faunus-run pharmacy has it, then it's completely affordable," Alyss said, "But if you didn't have access to it or didn't have the lien... Let's say if I went through heat, then I'd be okay since I'd have you around to satisfy my needs for me until it passes."

"And... what if you didn't have me?" Jace asked out of curiosity.

"Then I'd need _a lot_ of time alone, or someone to comfort me and calm me down. Both of those aren't guaranteed to work though. I've heard catnip works too, at least for cat Faunus."

"Huh..." Jace took the information in and wrapped his head around it all, "I'm glad you don't have to go through that. But if you did, then I'd be there for you."

"I appreciate the thought, sweetie." Alyss said and kissed the back of his neck.

They didn't speak anymore of that as they continued down the road behind the others. After maybe twenty minutes more, they pulled over onto a dirt road that led to the forests. When they entered the trees, they slowed down a bit and Jace was able to take in the sights around them. After awhile, there was a small river that ran beside the road, then it cut under a small bridge and continued on the other side for a ways. After it broke off and went in another direction, Jace looked to the right and saw the frame and body of an old truck with a small tree growing through it.

Soon after, they broke into the clearing and picked up the speed a bit. After a few minutes, they finally arrived at the house and stopped next to a black car, causing blonde and crimson-haired teens to take a break from sparring. And on the porch were four people sitting at the table.

Auron was the first out of his truck and he waved toward the ones on the porch. "I'm home!" He called out to them.

"Did you have a good time in Atlas?" Pyrrha asked when she walked up to them.

"Other than dealing with two idiots, it was pretty great." Jace answered her.

"How's trainin' been?" Auron asked the two tired teens.

"Hard," Jaune answered simply, "I'm glad my aura keeps me from being sore half the time."

"I never mind soreness," Aulin remarked, "It honestly feels good in a weird way. Like when I massage my thighs and calves from doing a ton of squats. It's amazing."

"Noted." Alex grinned.

"How long have you guys been here today?" Alyss asked Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Almost four hours now," Jaune said, "We usually stay all day while their dads and Preacher play cards. The food is great too."

"Told ya." Auron laughed.

"Alright Jaune," Pyrrha said a bit sternly, "That's enough of a break right now. We can talk with them all later."

Jaune turned to her and nodded before turning back to the others. "Talk to you guys later I guess." He said and the two went back to their sparring ground.

Auron grinned after them and led the group to the house where the others were waiting. Before Auron went up the steps, Smoke and Kathy walked down them and they each gave Auron a hug. "Been takin' care o' yourself?" Smoke asked him.

Auron nodded. "Yeah, I have been. What about you guys?"

"It's been so quiet," Kathy answered him, "For a few weeks, I fixed food for three people before I was used to it being only your father and I. It was just like when Gail left for Atlas."

"I guess Preacher got all that leftover food?" Auron asked.

"Yeah, I ran it to him an' Charity over in Shion," Smoke said, "I heard from Em an' Erron that Remington is givin' 'im an easier time on missions, considerin' how old he is."

Auron laughed at that. "I doubt he needs to do that. The old man can still dance around a mad Ursa if he wanted to."

Smoke nodded and chuckled. "No doubt," He grinned and looked around at everyone else, who were standing to the side to let the family have their moment, "I didn't know they had teams of six now." He remarked.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't tell ya about the extras," Auron said, "I was focused on goin' to Atlas at the time."

"It's alright, isn't it?" Jace asked.

"Of course it is," Kathy said with a smile, "It's nice to finally meet you all. You're Jace, right?"

Jace nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Thanks for helping with that pie."

"So, did it help?"

"I really liked it," Alyss said, "But he didn't need to convince me. Although I think that and the noodles helped us start dating because it gave us time to be alone together."

"That's sweet. Who are the others here?" Kathy asked.

"I'm Aulin Sylvana." Aulin introduced herself.

"And I'm Alex Reznor. Jace's brother." Alex said next.

"Y'know..." Smoke looked at the fox Faunus of the groul, "I'm just sittin' here wonderin' why Emowyn got a couple inches shorter."

Raine laughed at hearing that. "I was waiting to hear something like that. I'm Raine. Her little sister."

"Little's the right word," Kathy laughed, "It's good to finally meet you after so much Emowyn said about you."

"All good things about your skill, don't worry," Smoke grinned and he and his wife led them all up onto the porch, "Auron, I guess you remember these two?"

"Yeah, I do," Auron answered, smiling at the emerald-eyed man and the red and gray-haired woman, "Good to see you both again."

"Hello Auron," Epirus greeted the teen, "Have you been well?"

"Yeah, I have," Auron answered easily, "What about you?"

"I completed a hunt not too long ago," Epirus answered, "A Geist has been terrorizing a village called Shira."

"I hate those things..." Auron shuddered.

"I've been recovering from a stomach virus," Helena said next, "I am still tired from lack of sleep, though."

"Too bad aura don't help with that stuff," Auron shook his head, "How often have you guys been comin' here?"

"Pyrrha and Jaune rested for a day after their flight over. We've been here almost every day after that," Epirus said, "That boy is devoted to his training. He told us why as well. It was kind of you to offer your property as a training ground for them."

"Without talkin' to us first," Smoke laughed, "But it's fine. Makes it a lot less dull around here."

"I think it's fun cooking for everyone too." Kathy said.

"Now you have some help back for that at least." Alex said, glancing up at Auron.

"Speaking of that, Auron suggested a cookout," Jace said, "Jaune and Pyrrha's team are in Mistral helping with the orphanage they grew up in. And our friend Bell is at the church she grew up in."

"I figured it'd be fun to do in a few days since we got a lot of our friends here." Auron told them.

"I don't got a problem with it." Smoke said.

"Neither do I," Kathy agreed, "We can do that. Jeff and Preacher can go buy a table or two and chairs for everyone."

"Wouldn't Preacher complain, though?" Raine asked with a grin.

Smoke and Kathy laughed. "He'll get over it when he hears Kathy's makin' a bunch o' food." Smoke said.

"He's supposed to be here later." Kathy said.

"I think you guys should head inside an' rest after flyin' over." Smoke told them.

"That sounds awesome," Aulin said, "I've never flown around like this before."

"We have one guest room, so you can drop your stuff off in there an' hang out in the livin' room."

"That sounds good," Alyss said, "It's about time for Jace's maintenance anyway."

"Maintenance?" Epirus asked, "I assume for your prosthetic?"

Jace nodded. "She takes care of it a lot better than what I can. She can get it oiled in places I can't."

"You got the oil you need for it?" Smoke asked him.

"Yeah. My mechanic sends a bottle of it every month for it."

"Alright. I was gonna say if you didn't then I'd lend ya some."

"I appreciate the thought, sir."

Smoke grunted at that. "Just call me by my name, kid."

* * *

After settling down and putting their bags in the guest room, everyone sat in the living room while Auron went outside to talk with his parents and family friends.

"How's Beacon been treatin' ya?" Smoke asked him as his son sat down.

"Pretty good. I've been havin' a lot o' fun," Auron answered, "Only exception was in the middle of our mission."

"And that was when Jace lost his arm?" Kathy asked, "What _was_ your mission? You never told us."

"Sorry about that," Auron apologized, grinning a bit before frowning, "But yeah, that was when. Us an' Aulin's team took a mission to escort three wagons full o' fruit from Calm to Pyne. One night, one o' the wagon drivers started sayin' how we just wanted to take the mission to see a new place an' not to help out. 'Bout a minute after, Grimm attacked us. We took them down easy, but then a Stalker got Jace from behind. Took his arm off in less than a second."

"But you said you dealt with the Grimm easily..." Helena said.

"Well, we did," Auron sighed, "But since Jace is a Faunus, the muzzle flashes of everyone's guns blinded 'im bad an' he got hit a lot. He was about outta aura when he told us all to stop shootin'. It took a day to get 'im some help. One of our chaperones went back to Calm that night an' got an ambulance. Brax, the guy that said that crap, had Vivi get his daughter. She's a prosthetic mechanic an' she got Jace his arm for free with how bad her dad blamed 'imself. He got rushed ahead to Pyne an' got fixed up, mostly mostly thanks to his kitten of a girlfriend."

"Auron, don't call a cat Faunus a kitten." Kathy chided him.

"They both accepted it with how they act around each other. You'll see it an' hear it enough," Auron laughed, "They really don't mind it. I don't know what all happened between when Jace got sent ahead an' when I saw 'im again. He acted the same as before he lost his arm. It was good to see it. I don't know if Emowyn told you about it, but he's had worse."

"He is the boy that had... unspeakable things performed on him," Epirus said sullenly, drawing a look of shock from the teenage gunslinger, "I was in Atlas at the time and I was called to help bring the operation down."

"Em told us after you left," Smoke said, "It's good that he made it this far. I'm glad his birth parents got put in prison."

"They deserve worse, but it ain't my choice," Auron sighed, "But he's okay. That's what matters right now."

"Right," Kathy agreed, "I don't suppose he's too keen on saying that himself, right?"

"Nope. He hates havin' to say it."

"Then I don't think we should bring it up around him."

"Right." Everyone agreed.

"Other than that..." Auron smiled widely, "I met someone I really like at the dance a few months ago."

"Oh really?" Kathy asked with a grin, "And who did you meet?"

"Her name's Shyla Lynn. About a year older than me. Pretty as can be..." Auron cleared his throat a bit, "She don't go to Beacon. She's a weapon designer for Century Arms over in Vale."

"That's interestin'," Smoke said, "So I doubt she was able to come with ya?"

"Well... we ain't datin'," Auron told them, "I plan on askin' sometime soon."

"I can't wait to meet her," Kathy said, "I'm going to go fix dinner," Kathy stood from her seat, "I won't ask you to help yet, Auron. You have a day to rest."

Auron shrugged. "I'm good to help if ya need it. I ain't really that tired."

"I can help if cooking for ten people is a bit too much." Helena offered.

"Well... I won't object to it," Kathy said to the two. She stepped over to where Auron was sitting and she bent down to give him a motherly hug, "It's good to have you back for a bit, Auron."

Auron returned the hug. "It's good to be back. I'm just gonna hate it when we go."


	34. Chapter 34: A Talk

**Chapter Thirty Four**

 **A Talk**

 _'You think you might have the time?'_

 _'Definitely. I'm meeting with a designer from S &S Munitions about some new ammunition. I'll be there for two weeks for a few meetings.'_

Auron and Shyla were texting each other after everyone ate dinner. Epirus, Helena, Pyrrha and Jaune left after the meal and bid everyone a good night. Aulin and Alex had already retired to the guest room to sleep, exhausted after the flight to Mistral and the drive to the house.

 _'We're having a cookout in a few days. On Friday before we leave Sunday. Think you can come then?'_ Auron asked hopefully.

"...So you made that sword yourself?" He heard Preacher ask Jace. The old Ranger had arrived shortly after Pyrrha and the others left, driving his old and classic pickup truck.

Jace nodded. "I did. It took a few months for me to..."

Auron looked back at his scroll as it buzzed. _'I'd love to go. I'm gonna have a lot of free time in between the meetings, so I can be there no problem.'_ Shyla answered him, ending her message with a smiley face.

 _'Awesome. I'll look forward to seeing you. I kinda want to talk to you about something that we're planning in a few weeks too.'_

 _'Okay. I'm gonna go take a shower and prepare for the meeting in the morning. Talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight.'_

 _'Night, Shy.'_

Auron smiled as he closed his scroll up. He took a piece of jerky from his new bag of it and stuck it in his mouth as he listened to Jace tell Preacher about his weapon.

"...I made it to grow wider too. Just in case I had to fight something new that can launch fire or anything at me." Jace said, finishing with showing _Legacy_ off.

"It's a mighty impressive weapon," Preacher admitted, "You wouldn't last a minute in the Rangers with that thing."

"I never really planned on being silent about fighting," Jace laughed, "I leave that to Raine."

"Smart move. She knows how to keep hidden when it comes to it." Preacher grinned at the apprentice.

"Like hiding in and falling out of trees." Alyss said.

Raine groaned. "I really wish Gil would've kept his mouth shut."

"Hiding in trees?" Kathy asked.

"It's something I did to pass initiation," Raine explained, "People hardly look up if they're looking for someone."

"Sounds like a solid plan." Smoke said.

"I've never heard of foxes climbing in trees. Only cats." Alyss laughed.

"And I've never heard someone as loud as Preacher bein' a Ranger." Auron remarked, grinning at the old man.

"Shut up, Auron," Preacher shook his head and everyone laughed, "Ain't nobody got any respect for their elders."

""It's the truth. No one's as loud as you usually are." Smoke said.

"He hasn't been that loud." Alyss said.

"Thank you, Alyss," Preacher said to her, "At least someone-"

"Aly, you don't know him like we do," Auron laughed, "Give it time. You ain't heard the snorin' yet."

* * *

"Aulin? Alex? What are you all doing in Mistral?" Bell asked the six arrivals at the church.

"We're going with them to each of their houses," Alex answered her, "We started at Jace's... _my_ house in Atlas last week. Now we're here."

"It is good to see you all." Bell said to everyone.

"Good to see you too, Bell," Jace said, "If you guys don't mind, can you let me have a minute alone?" He asked and everyone nodded. As they all turned to go outside, Jace put a hand on Alyss' arm, "You can stay if you want."

Alyss smiled and stayed behind with him and the others stepped just outside the front doors of the church. "What brings you all to the church?"

"We figured we'd stop by to see you for a bit," Aulin answered her, "I'm sorry I didn't accept your offer to come with you. With this being a church and everything, I just thought-"

"You... thought you would be a burden." Bell interrupted with a sigh.

Aulin hesitated. "Th-that's not it..."

"It is, though," Bell interrupted again, her voice raising noticeably, "Aulin... I do not mind that you are who you are. I do not believe you are a burden at all. _You_ think you are only because of our upbringings. I have never judged you and I never will. I have been raised into religion and you have been more of a free spirit, but I never minded that. I do not mind that you are not religious. I would not even mind if no one here believed..."

Aulin looked down as everyone else stayed silent. "Bell..."

"You are not a burden to me or Inu," Bell continued. Her voice dropped back to its usual quiet tone, "He would say the same. I think of you as my sister, Aul. Just as I think of Inu and Barrett and now Alex as brothers. You all made me feel welcome in Beacon at the beginning of the year and Alex added onto that when he came to Beacon. Why can you not see yourself as anything more than a burden to us?"

"Because part of me will always think that way..." Aulin said quietly. Her usual mask of confidence and cockiness was broken, leaving a rather fearful and sad looking girl, "After I got to Beacon, everything was good for me for the first time in my life... I had nothing and no one before that. I was a burden to everyone my whole life. To the orphanage and the other orphans, to the teachers and students in Signal. I didn't even know Raine or Yang or anyone back then because I felt like that..."

"But..." Raine spoke up, "you were everything you are now when I met you before initiation."'

"Something just... clicked in my head when I was at the orphanage before I went to Beacon," Aulin said with a loud sigh, "I just... found myself, I guess you could say. I just told myself I don't want to be lonely... so I just worked myself up and put myself out there. That's why I had all those relationships and why I hit on everyone. Didn't want to be lonely. Didn't want to be a burden... But then, everyone probably thought I was just a-"

"Don't say that about yourself," Alex interrupted her, looking at her with a fire in his deep-brown eyes, "You are _not_ that. You told me why you flirted with everyone, Aul. You're not a burden. You wasn't when I met you, you wasn't when that Armaddon broke my arm, you aren't now, and you never will be. You'll never be a burden to me or any of us. It... hurts to hear that. It hurts to hear it from you that you think that I think you're a burden."

"I-I'm sorry, Alex..." Aulin whispered, her red eyes leaking tears, "Every one of you are more than I've ever had... I-I don't want to always think I-I'm a-a burden..."

"Then you do not have to," Bell told her softly, "I know it is not that simple, but you must try to believe that yourself."

"No one here thinks that," Auron said, speaking up after hearing everything, "You helped Jace feel like he belonged at Beacon when he told us all that shit. Don't you think you should let Alex an' your team do the same for you? Let all of us? Let us all make you feel like you belong."

Alex wrapped his arms around Aulin and hugged tightly. "Aul, you're fucking awesome. You made me not care about my broken arm before. I honestly don't care what happens to me as long as you're with me. If you broke your legs, then I wouldn't mind staying with you until you got better. If you had to drop out, then I'd visit you every damn day. If you were in a coma... I would stay by your side, saying " _fuck class_ ". You're not a burden."

Aulin returned the hug and buried her face into his shoulder. "Gods, I love you guys so much..." She said, her voice muffled by Alex's jacket, "Especially you, Alex."

"I love you too, babe," Alex replied and kissed her on the side of the head, "You can stop believing that now. At least try to, because you're not."

"Well, now I think we need to let these two have some time alone." Auron said.

Aulin shook her head. "This is fine... It's nice to be surrounded by family."

* * *

Auron parked his truck near the airdocks on the south side of Mistral, waiting for Shyla to arrive. It had been a few days since they visited Bell. It was Friday, the day of the cookout and it was around midday. Everyone else was back at his house relaxing while he was waiting to take Shyla there. He stood with Bell, Ren, and Nora, who were also catching a ride from him. Pyrrha, Jaune, and the former's parents were already at his house, along with the three Rangers that were invited.

"So, she your girlfriend?" Nora asked Auron.

"No, she's not," Auron answered her. "But... I'm hopin' to change that soon."

"How're you gonna do that?"

"Nora," Ren chuckled, "Don't pry."

"I'm just curious about my friend's life," Nora smiled at both Ren and Auron, "You're curious too, Ren. I can tell."

"That may be, but he still has his privacy." Ren replied.

"Good to know that my friends care about me," Auron laughed. "To answer your question, Nora, I'm gonna ask her. I just don't know how."

"I am sure it will turn out for the best with how you have talked of her," Bell assured him, "How has Aulin been?"

"She's a bit more cheery than usual. I guess that's a good thing," Auron answered her, "I think that talk with you an' Alex struck her the right way."

Bell smiled at hearing that. "Good. No matter how many times we may butt heads in the future, she will never be less than my sister."

After waiting for several more minutes, an airship descended down onto the airdocks. Auron waited patiently with the others as a crowd of people poured out of it.

Auron _hummed_. "She told me it was crowded, but damn. Didn't expect this."

"Think she'll see us?" Nora asked him.

"With all these people, I kinda doubt it. We might be waitin' awhile."

"Nope!" Nora exclaimed and jumped up onto the top of Auron's truck, "Does she know what I look like?" She asked the owner.

"No, she don't," Auron replied, "Gimme a minute." He said and opened his scroll.

 _'Hey, look for a short orange-haired girl wearing pink and white. I'm with her.'_ He messaged her quickly and waited.

After a few moments, he recieved a reply. ' _I'm pretty sure I see who you're talking about. Short hair, waving her arms around?'_

Auron looked up and saw Nora waving her arms around. ' _Yep. That's her.'_ He replied.

 _'Alright. I'll try to wade through this sea of people.'_

 _'Try not to hit anyone with a paddle.'_

After more minutes of waiting, Shyla finally pushed through the crowd and met up with them all. "Hey. Sorry for the wait."

"It's fine," Auron assured her, "These three are Bell, Ren, an' Nora," He introduced her to them in order as he pointed them out, "How was the meetin' yesterday?"

"Still working through small design flaws," She answered, "Nice to meet you guys. I'm Shyla Lynn." She introduced herself.

"Nora, you can come down from the truck now," Ren told the shorter girl before he turned back to Shyla, "Pleasure to meet you."

Nora dropped down from the truck and grinned. "Your hair looks pretty."

"Thank you." Shyla said with a smile.

Bell bowed her head, her light-red hair dropping over her shoulders. "It is nice to meet you, Shyla."

"We should probably get goin' before traffic gets bad," Auron told everyone, "We can talk on the way."

Everyone agreed and quickly got in the truck. Shyla took the front seat while Nora sat between Bell and Ren in the back. Auron started it up and drove it from the airdocks and into the streets. After almost an hour's drive, they entered the clearing. When they grew closer, Auron saw that his mother was already at the grill and the tables and chairs were set up under a gazebo to protect from the sun.

Auron grinned at seeing everything until he noticed something in the corner of his eye, in the side mirror. "The hell?" He said at seeing a motorcycle following them. He grinned again when he recognized the two on it.

Auron pulled his truck to a stop behind his father's and the five teens got out of it, then the other person stopped his motorcycle next to Jace's. "I thought you said you don't fly well." Auron said to the driver, who grinned as he and his girlfriend stepped off of _Kimura_.

"I found out that when you have your girlfriend holding your hand, then you calm down a lot." Genesis told him.

"Ah, so you're cheatin' on gettin' better," Auron laughed, "It works, so keep at it."

"Planned on it." Nika said.

"You guys follow us or something?" Nora asked.

"Kinda, yeah," Genesis grinned, "We got to Mistral earlier, then we had to switch airships. We ended up on the same one as her," He pointed at Shyla, "And when we took _Kimura_ out, we saw you leaving in your truck so we followed. I was gonna call and ask Jace before I saw you. By the way, I'm Genesis and this is Nika," He introduced himself and his girlfriend to Shyla, "Just call me Gen."

"Good to meet you. I'm Shyla." Shyla greeted back.

"Anyone else think it's really hot?" Genesis asked.

"You're gonna wanna talk to Jace an' Aulin about that." Auron told him.

"Gen!" Jace yelled from where he came out of the house.

"Surprise!" Genesis called back as Jace ran off the porch to greet him, with Alyss following him.

"Word to the wise," Auron said to Genesis and the others, "Mom hates cussin'. Don't test her with it."

"Got it." Genesis replied.

Auron nodded and everyone broke off from there. Bell went to sit with Aulin and Alex on the porch. Jace talked with Genesis and Nika, asking why they were there. Ren and Nora went to Jaune and Pyrrha, meeting the latter's parents as they talked. Auron took Shyla over to where his mother was grilling the food.

"Hey mom. This is Shyla," Auron introduced her, "Shy, this is my mom."

"Hello. I would be more excited to meet you..." Kathy told Shyla, "but I'm busy right now."

"I can take over for you for a little bit if you wanna take a break." Auron offered.

"Jeff already did earlier, but I _am_ getting tired again," Kathy replied and moved over for Auron, "I'm glad he can at least use the grill."

"Yeah. Saves 'im the trouble o' burnin' the house down." Auron laughed.

"So true," Kathy agreed and took a nearby seat, "Have a seat, Shyla. You have to be tired after that flight over the city."

"I really am," Shyla said and took a seat next to her, "I'm gonna have to get more used to all the flying soon."

"I'm Kathy by the way. The two coming out of the house are Jeff, my husband, and Preacher, his brother." Kathy said, pointing the two out.

"It's nice to meet you, Kathy. Auron told me... a lot about Preacher."

"About how loud he is?"

"Yeah."

Kathy laughed. "It's true. So, a weapon designer your age?"

Shyla nodded. "Yeah. Instead of training to be a Huntress, I started young with learning about weapons and I just wanted to do that. I've seen reports of weapons malfunctioning on people when they fight against Grimm and criminals and it got them hurt and killed. If I'm not gonna be a Huntress, then I'll help with designing weapons and weapon parts to help people keep their weapons in the best shape they can be."

Kathy _hummed_ at hearing all of that. "You remind me of my daughter. She's a doctor in Atlas. She decided to do that and not be a Huntress so she can still help people."

"Well, some of us have to help a different way while the Huntsmen watch our backs." Shyla smiled.

"Alright, I like you." Kathy grinned at the young woman.

"Glad you like my new friend." Auron said as he flipped one of the burgers on the grill.

"And Auron told me that he met you at the dance." Kathy stated to Shyla.

Shyla nodded again. "I was meeting with General Ironwood. He told me to meet him at the dance to have a more relaxed environment than an office. Auron asked me for a dance when he saw me, but I told him I couldn't. It took me almost an hour with Ironwood, then I went to find Auron because I kinda felt bad about turning him down at first and I gave him a dance."

"Her bein' that kind to me made my night greater than what seein' everyone have fun did." Auron said with a smile.

Kathy smiled at hearing that, and she noticed a smile on Shyla's face as well. She leaned in and whispered in the young woman's ear.

"I won't be opposed if you want to go out with him."

That caused the smile on the brunette's lips to widen.

* * *

"So you get over your fear of flying from holding Nika's hand?" Jace asked his brother with a grin over the picnic table.

"It's kind of a childish solution, I know. But it helps so much." Genesis replied.

"You kids an' your lovey-dovey crap," Preacher shook his head, "Makes me wanna throw up."

"Wouldn't you be the same way with Charity if she was with you right now?" Smoke questioned him.

"Hey! You leave her outta this!" Preacher yelled half-heartedly, "We don't get like that around each other at all."

"Last time I saw you two together, you were saying how much you loved each other and who loves who more." Kathy quipped.

"Ya know what, I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut." Preacher grumbled and took a bite of his burger.

"That'll be a first." Auron said.

"Shuddup, Auron!" Preacher said through a full mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full or you're not allowed to get seconds." Kathy told him.

Preacher huffed and looked down into his plate, barely suppressing a grin.

"Speaking of relationships," Emowyn said, looking over to her sister, "You and Vivi got together?"

Raine nodded happily. "Yeah. It's been great. She was a chaperone for our mission, so I got to spend a lot of time with her."

Emowyn smiled. "That's good. You two always hung out a lot since you met a few years ago. Do you plan on taking her along on your little beach day?"

"Definitely."

Emowyn _hummed_. "I can think of one reason why. Well, maybe four.

Raine blushed. "That's... a few reasons, yeah. She looked great in her dress at the dance."

"Both of you did," Aulin started, "Heck, everyone did. You, her, Aly, Bell, Blake, Ya-"

"I believe you have made your point, Aulin," Bell stopped her from naming literally everyone, "But yes, everybody did look beautiful and handsome."

"Especially my Pretty Kitty." Jace said and leaned his head over, pushing it against his girlfriend's shoulder.

Alyss smiled and returned the affection. "And so did you."

"What did I tell ya, mom," Auron laughed, motioning hia hand toward the display, "Kittens."

"I see that now." Kathy replied.

"We don't deny it." Alyss laughed.

"I've heard the purrs before, but I didn't want to be rude and ask." Epirus said.

"You haven't seen them in Beacon," Nora said with a grin, "They purr like that all the time in their room. I swear I can hear it all the way in ours."

"There's no way we get that loud." Jace said in disbelief.

"I don't think I've seen cat Faunus as... well, affectionate as you two," Erron remarked. The red-eyed, raven-haired Ranger retracted his rebreather and took a bite of his steak. He swallowed and the mask returned to cover his mouth and nose, "I've never seen Vivi get like that."

"I'm sure something goes on like that behind closed doors," Alyss said, grinning at the darker blush on her teammate's cheeks. She turned back and regarded Erron for a moment, "Before you leave, I want to talk to you about something, Erron."

"What about?"

"Hmm, you'll see."

"I wouldn't worry," Jace said, giving Alyss a loving smile, "It's just her nature."

"I guess I'll take your word for it." Erron said.

After awhile of eating, talking, laughing, and overall having a great time, the eating portion of the cookout was over. All the leftovers were taken inside and everyone hung around in different areas. On the porch, Alyss sat Erron down and offered to heal his lungs for him, which he accepted after Jace had explained her semblance for her. JNPR, along with Preacher and the three members of SLVR, were watching as Emowyn and Raine competed to see who was the fastest and most accurate with their respective bow. Smoke, Kathy, Epirus, and Helena all went inside to talk with each other.

Auron had taken Shyla for a walk around the clearing a small ways from the house. "I had a lot of fun today. It was nice to meet your parents and more of your friends."

Auron smiled. "I'm glad you had fun. You get a week off work when you want, right?"

Shyla nodded. "Yeah. That's only for after I get done in Mistral though. Why?"

"Me an' the others are plannin' for a trip to Patch in a few weeks after we visit Raine an' Alyss' homes. We planned on goin' to the beach like Emowyn said. I was gonna ask if you wanted to go so you can really relax for a bit."

"That sounds... pretty great," Shyla replied, "It's been so long since I've been to a beach. I'd love to go."

"Awesome," Auron said, growing nervous now, "There's... somethin' else I wanted to talk to you about too."

"What would that be?"

"Well... I'm pretty sure I love you." Auron said bluntly.

"You do?" Shyla asked, stopping in her tracks.

Auron stopped with her and nodded. "I really like spendin' time with you. Since the dance, I've hung out with you more than my team when I could. Hell, talkin' to you kept me sane on that mission after Bell let me use her charger. I feel that I got close to you, Shy... Closer than I've ever got with anyone."

"I think I got close to you too," Shyla gave him a smile, "Auron, the only other person I have this much fun with is Amy. And I've enjoyed hanging out with you so much... I look forward to your texts every time I get off work, and I like hearing about the days you've had in Beacon. I feel the same way, Auron. I love you too."

"You do?" Auron asked, giving a grin, "You love a guy like me?"

"A guy that's caring, nice, considerate, fun, protective, loyal, and honestly pretty badass," Shyla looked into his auburn eyes and nodded, "Yeah, I love you. When we were hanging out before i met your team, you could have kept driving when I was talking about what happened... but you stopped and you paid full attention to what I had to say so you wouldn't be distracted by anything else."

"You needed me to hear it, an' I didn't want you to repeat it 'cause it obviously made you uncomfortable," Auron said, "It's how I always am with people."

Shyla nodded and smiled. "And it's awesome, Auron. Being with you let me break out of that shell I had with Faunus. I met Alyss, Jace, Raine, and now I met Emowyn and Inuvali. And that makes me so much more confident to be around and talk to Faunus. It's because of you that I'm meeting with the S&S guys, because some of their workers are Faunus and the rep I talk to is Faunus. You helped me so much that you don't even know and I love you for it."

Auron rubbed the back of his neck. "Aw hell, I didn't know I did that much for ya. I'm really glad I saw you at the dance."

"And I'm glad you did too," Shyla stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Auron's large body. "Thank you so much, Auron."

Auron returned the hug and let out a happy smile. "Maybe we should thank Ironwood too. He was the one that told you to go."

"Maybe we should..." Shyla pulled back from him and looked back into his eyes with her own bright pink. She stood up on her toes and kissed him lightly. Auron returned it and bent down, giving her an easier time and showing a bit of the consideration Shyla had mentioned. Auron put his arms around her again and she did the same.

After a few moments, they separated and held hands. "So... we're a couple now," Auron said happily, "I'm real glad you were in Mistral."

"So am I," Shyla agreed, "So, what's next?"

Auron looked back to the house and grinned when he saw Kathy, Smoke, and Preacher looking over at them from the porch. "Well, I guess we go relax an' let everyone know. How's your feet?"

"My feet?" Shyla parroted, "They're fine. Why?"

Auron grinned. "Want me to carry you back anyway?"

Shyla giggled. "Sure."

Auron picked her up bridal style, grinning even more. He kissed her on the cheek and walked back toward the house where his family was waiting for the news.


	35. Chapter 35: Returning Calm

**Chapter Thirty Five**

 **Returning Calm**

"It was really good to meet you all." Jace told Auron's family as they prepared to leave the following Sunday morning. The day before that, Alyss had told Jace that she had been wanting to get her cat ear pierced, but she was afraid it would be painful. He had said he would if she did, and they both went into the city to search for a parlor. They had found a place called _Shining Star Body Art_ , run by a friendly fox Faunus named Seras. Alyss had chosen a smooth-cut emerald stud for Jace and he chose a ruby stud, amethyst stud, and a ring with a tiny cat head pendant for Alyss. Jace had taken his in his right human ear and Alyss took hers in her left cat ear. When they had returned later that day, Genesis laughed, mostly at Jace. He took the laughs with a grin on his face because he did it for his girlfriend and it didn't matter if anyone laughed.

"It was good to meet you too," Smoke replied, "You got a good team, Auron. This one didn't let almost dyin' make 'im quit." He said to his son, putting a hand on Jace's shoulder.

"It's gonna take a lot more to get 'im to, I know that much." Auron grinned.

"I'm surprised he didn't quit after his old teammate pulled his tail," Genesis said, "Especially with how much he screamed."

"Shut up!" Jace told him, "You grow a tail and let me yank on it and see how you feel."

"I'm good." Genesis laughed.

"Quit being a nuisance." Nika slapped his arm.

"He'll never stop." Jace told her.

"And you quit enabling him." Alyss slapped his arm.

"Do you boys fight like this all the time?" Kathy asked them both.

"Only when he's being an annoying jerk." Jace replied.

Kathy laughed. "Siblings never change. Gail and Auron were always arguing and annoying each other."

"Same with dad an' Preach." Auron said.

"It ain't my fault your dad here gets riled up easy." Preacher remarked with a grin.

"Like you don't get mad if someone calls you loud?" Smoke said.

"I don't get loud. Everyone's just got sensitive hearin'."

Everyone laughed at that, even those not part of the family knew it after a few days with Preacher around. "Are me and Emowyn the only ones that aren't like that or something?" Raine asked, shaking her head at all the quips being thrown around.

"Seems like it," Smoke grinned, then he sighed, "I guess it's about time for you guys to go, right?" He asked everyone.

"Yeah, we need to catch a flight to Calm," Auron told him, "Gonna get me some oranges."

"And I'm for the almonds." Aulin said tiredly, not used to being up that early.

"I have no preference at the moment. Just tired." Alex said, in the same boat as Aulin.

"Is that the only reason you're going?" Jace asked Auron and Aulin.

"I guess I can hang out with Raine too." Aulin grinned.

" _Thanks_." Raine said sarcastically, grinning.

"What about you two an' your apples an' cherries?" Auron asked Jace and Alyss.

"I'm going so I can hang out with everyone," Alyss replied, "And to explore the village more. And cherries."

"And I'm gonna make sure everything's okay with my arm," Jace said, "And explore with Alyss. And apples."

"Good to know my home is loved." Raine rolled her eyes.

"I want all of you to know that you're welcome here any time," Kathy said to everyone, "If you ever need a place to stay, you can stay here."

"We appreciate it, Kathy." Genesis told her.

"Thanks," Aulin said with a smile, "I think me and Alex really appreciate it since..."

"I know, Aul. You're welcome." Kathy said.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come with us to Calm?" Jace asked his older brother.

Genesis shook his head. "I'm good. Even with Nika, I still don't wanna do too much flying."

"Hopefully you get over that someday," Nika said, "I don't like seeing you like that."

"You should probably go before Alex there falls over." Preacher said, pointing to the teen that looked half asleep on his feet.

"Maybe, yeah..." Auron sighed, "It was good to see you guys. I'll be back next month."

"Good to see you too, bud," Preacher said and hugged him, "You keep that girl o' yours happy when you can see her."

Auron smiled. "I will, don't you worry."

"I'm happy you found someone, Auron," Kathy said and hugged him next, "Shyla's a great girl. She's smart."

"She's really great," Auron said, "Thanks for offerin' to let her stay here while she's in Mistral. It's a lot safer here."

"We woulda offered even if she wasn't your girlfriend now," Smoke said, "You care about her. That's enough of a reason to ask."

"Sucks she had to be at a meetin' this early," Auron sighed and shook his head, "I knew what I was gettin' into, datin' a weapon designer an' all."

"You gonna be gettin' discounts?" Preacher asked.

"Yeah, she said she could get me some even before we started datin'," Auron shook his head at him, "You ain't usin' me to get stuff for your rifle."

"What do you take me for? A leech?" Preacher asked in mock hurt, "I wasn't thinkin' o' that!"

"That why I keep hearin' you say you need some cheap parts to upgrade it?" Smoke asked.

"Quit gangin' up on me!"

"Don't take it too bad, Preach," Auron put his hand on the old Ranger's shoulder, "You keep an eye on the mail in the future."

Preacher grinned and brought the tall teen in for another hug. "Aw don't you worry about that. Just go have some fun with your friends."

"That was my plan."

Smoke and Kathy took turns giving Auron more hugs as well. After that, Kathy made rounds to do the same with everyone. "Everyone stay safe and be careful. Take care of yourselves."

"We will," Raine assured her, "It was good to meet you guys. Em always told dad good things, and he told me when I found out who my new teammates would be."

"Well, we look forward to y'all visitin' again," Smoke said to everyone, "Get goin' before ya miss the ship."

"Right..." Auron sighed, "Take it easy, dad. See ya later."

Everyone exchanged goodbyes with Auron's family and went to their vehicles. As Auron put his hand on the door to his truck, he looked back to his house and smiled as tears came from his eyes. "Damn, I really hate goodbyes."

"Maybe Shyla can help with that like Nika helps me with flying." Genesis said with a grin.

"It's worth a try," Auron said, "Well, let's get to the city. Alex looks like he's about to pass out."

"Already on it," Aulin said, opening the back door of the truck and basically shoving Alex inside, "Gods, you are not a morning person."

"It's seven in the morning on summer break..." Alex mumbled, "What do you expect? Damn I'm tired."

"You can use me as a pillow on the way there. How's that sound?" Aulin said with a grin.

"Hmm... I can think of two really nice pillows right about now..." Alex gave a tired grin.

"Oh my Oum, just go to sleep." Alyss said as she sat behind Jace on his motorcycle.

"I will when my pillows get in here!" Alex yelled.

* * *

"Alex did have a point," Alyss said with a yawn, "It's summer break and we're up this early." They had barely caught their flight when they made it to the airdocks. Genesis and Nika had more time for theirs, but JKDW, Alex, and Aulin weren't so lucky, so their goodbyes were short.

"Well, _he's_ not," Raine replied, "He's still asleep in the truck with Aulin."

"Jace looks pretty close to noddin' off himself." Auron remarked.

"Mhmm..." Jace yawned heavily and laid his head on Alyss' shoulder, "I was up for a few hours thinking to myself last night."

"What about?" Alyss asked him.

"Just stuff. I'll tell you sometime. 'Kay, Pretty Kitty?"

"Alright. Just get some sleep, okay?"

"Hmm... You're a great pillow." Jace mumbled and drifted off to sleep.

Raine grinned at the two and looked through the window of the airship, wondering how her own cat Faunus of a girlfriend was doing. She leaned her head against the cool glass and closed her eyes as she smiled, still just so glad to be with her. She couldn't wait to see those golden eyes staring into her own violet. She couldn't wait to see her body. She couldn't wait to feel her touch. She couldn't wait to have her all alone and to let out all of her pent up energy, and let Vivi do the same with her. It was almost four months since Raine had seen her Big Kitty, and she just couldn't wait to see her again.

"They both passed out." Auron said quietly, drawing Raine from her thoughts.

"Yeah, they did." Raine grinned at seeing the peaceful looks on her teammates' sleeping faces.

"How do you deal with bein' away from Vivi?" Auron asked, "I mean, you can't see her every day. It's been almost four months since you have. Since the tournament. Jace an' Aly are with each other about every second. Helps 'em that they're on the same team. Same with Alex an' Aulin bein' together. And Yang an' Weiss. How do ya deal with it?"

"I just look forward to when I can see her again," Raine told him, keeping most of her thoughts to herself as she crossed her legs, "I knew I wouldn't be able to see her every day, especially since she has the responsibility of looking over the council and Beacon, along with taking missions when she's needed. It's just so great when I get to see her."

Auron sighed. "It's gonna suck to be away from Shy for so long."

"You knew you wouldn't be able to see her," Raine gave a smile, "Just do what I do. I bet it'll be a lot better for you when you when you can see her since I can probably see Vivi more than you can see Shyla unless you go see her every weekend or she visits you. I'm pretty sure Ozpin is alright with civilian visitation."

"I'll look forward to it. Damn, I'm really lookin' forward to when we go to Patch."

* * *

"Still pretty quiet, huh?" Jace grinned when they all stopped at a small diner to eat after they landed in Calm.

"Yep. Just like always," Raine said, nodding to the server who brought their food, "Thanks, Gemini."

The green-haired woman grinned. "No problem, Raine." She said and walked off.

"She a friend?" Auron asked.

Raine shrugged. "Everyone in Calm are friends. That was Jess' mom. We all take care of each other."

"This is a pretty great village." Jace said, looking out the window at passing people. He was seated next to it while Alyss was at his side. Raine was on Alyss' other side in the booth and Alex and Aulin were across from them, with Auron in front of Raine.

"I'm glad that now I won't be falling asleep all day." Alex said as he dug into his food.

"My pillows helped, right?" Aulin asked with a smirk.

"Yes they did."

"Can you not talk like that in a diner?" Alyss asked them.

"Hey, if I stop, then I'll go crazy," Aulin said with a grin, "Then it'll be worse."

"As long as you don't corrupt the kids around here." Auron said.

"For all they know, we could be talking about pillows she brought to use on all the flights," Alex told him, "Besides, I didn't see any kids in here."

"Point still stands," Raine said, "Don't corrupt the kids." She grinned.

Aulin shrugged. "If there were kids around, I wouldn't be talking like that. Don't worry. Kids are sponges and I'm not gonna be blamed for if they start saying stuff."

The talk of kids got Alyss' mind thinking. "I wonder how-"

"Alyss!"

She turned her head back around and saw the little girl she had helped on their first visit to Calm, followed closely by her mother. Zarya and Maria. "Hey Zarya!" Alyss greeted back with a smile, "How are you doing?"

"I'm really good!" Zarya answered cheerfully.

"What happened to you?" Maria asked in shock as she laid her eyes on Jace's prosthetic.

"A bad accident on our mission," Jace answered her, "I'll spare details, but I'm okay. Alyss just has that ability to just make people feel awesome. Right Zarya?"

The girl nodded quickly. "Does it hurt?"

Jace shook his head. "No, it doesn't. The artificial nerves keep it from hurting and I can feel with the fingers too. But do you wanna know what really makes it not hurt?"

"Yeah."

Jace grinned and grabbed hold of Alyss' hand. "Her."

Raine groaned. "He's been saying that over and over and over since then."

Jace laughed. "I really can't help it if it's true."

"It's great that you didn't give up," Maria said to Jace, "You set a great example for children, you know."

"I never thought about it like that," Jace replied, "I just have too much on my shoulders to stop, but thank you for saying that, Maria. I have a friend that lost his hand a few years ago, and it didn't even get him down. It actually made him fight harder to be what he wants to be, rather than make him want to quit being a Huntsman."

"Either way, people like you and your friend set a good example," Maria smiled, "So, what brings you all back to Calm, Raine?" She asked the apprentice.

"Summer break," Raine answered, "We're here for a week, then we're off to Vale to visit Alyss' home."

"Didn't you have another team?" Zarya asked Jace and Alyss.

Alyss shook her head. "No, they were our friends. They were part of another team and these two are our teammates. I guess you already know Raine, and the big one is Auron." She said, tilting her head toward the large teen.

Zarya tilted her head. "You're really big."

Auron laughed. "It's what I've been told."

"Who's that behind you?" Jace asked, noticing a small boy hiding behind the woman.

Maria looked behind her and smiled. "C'mon, dear. Say hi."

The boy reluctantly stepped from behind her and looked down, and revealed his one, heavily-scaled arm to them. It was all red scales, extending from his shoulder and the outside of his arm and to the outsides of his hands and fingers "H-hello..." He greeted everyone quietly.

"So shy," Maria laughed and placed her hand on his shoulder. Unlike the other two in the small group, he had short white hair with slightly darker skin and crystal-blue eyes, "This is Saint. My son. He was with my husband when Alyss helped Zar."

"Hey there buddy," Auron greeted the child, "Good to meet ya."

"What happened to him?" Alyss asked quietly, in shock at seeing the boy's lack of an arm.

"Oh, he was born with no right arm," Maria said lightly as she patted him on the shoulder, "He isn't old enough yet for a prosthetic to effectively help him since his nerves don't go to his shoulder the way they should."

"I can try to help sometime," Alyss offered, "I don't know if I'd be able to since I've never tried healing a lost limb, but I want to help."

"Would you really be willing to do that?"

Alyss nodded. "It's why I want to be a Huntress, remember? I want to help everyone I can. Even if they're strangers."

"D-do you th-think you can?" Saint asked her nervously.

"I want to at least try." Alyss smiled at him.

"If you really mean that, and I don't doubt you do, I'll tell you where our house is," Maria gave a grateful smile at Alyss' kindness, "We'll let you eat and then you can stop by whenever you want."

"What brought you guys over anyway?" Raine asked.

"Zar saw you through the windows and wanted to come say hi."

"Did you get that toy?" Jace asked the girl

She nodded excitedly. "Yeah! It's awesome!"

"Glad you like it," Raine grinned, "I guess if you were busy, we won't keep you."

"It was good to see Zarya's alright," Alyss said to Maria with a smile, "And you."

"You too," Maria smiled back, "Have a good time in Calm."

"I'll be over as soon as we get done eating." Alyss told her.

After giving directions to their home, the three left them all to their meal. After thirty minutes, they had eaten their fill and paid the waiter, then they left. From there, they separated. Jace recieved directions to where Hayley lived and Auron explored around the marketplace for awhile, looking through different revolvers a firearms dealer had for sale. Alex and Aulin joined him in the market, except they went everywhere to see what was new. Alyss had gone with Jace to say hello to Hayley, and then she went to find Maria's home. Raine had decided to go to her home to let her parents know they had arrived.

She went through the gates, giving friendly greetings to the watchmen, and turned left to go into the forest down the small path that led home. After their first year at Beacon with how their first mission turned out and all the schoolwork, plus all the training they had done in preparation for the Vytal Tournament the next year, made the walk home all the better. She knew it would only be a week for now, and then she would return in a few weeks by herself, but it was just a great feeling to be able to stay home after all of that work. The only problem was that she didn't have Vivi to relax with her.

Before long, she came into the small clearing where her small family home sat. She stopped to take in the peaceful sight for a few moments before pressing forward. She stepped up onto the small porch and braced her ears as she placed her hand on the doorknob. She opened the door, hearing the familiar screeching of the hinges, and she stepped inside.

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" She called through the small cabin.

"You don't have to yell. The house is kinda small, remember?" Halt said, stepping out from another room with a grin on his face, "How was your first year?"

"It was pretty eventful," Raine replied and gave the Ranger a quick hug, "You already know that Jace lost his arm."

"We learned that when his dad showed up on our doorstep," Nia replied and stepped out from behind Halt to give her daughter a hug, "He was saying things about driving the Stalkers out of Vale for hurting his family."

"Which we did a good job of thinning them down," Halt said, "He can really swing that axe of his."

They all sat down in the living room and Nia turned the vidcaster on for them all. "I guess it was a surprise to see him, wasn't it?" Raine asked.

"The most surprising was when he told me Jace lost his arm," Halt replied, "I didn't expect to hear that at all."

"I'm sure Jace would love to hear how you guys hunted them. I don't think he asked his dad when we were in Atlas."

Halt laughed. "Oh I don't know if he'll be too happy with what his old man suggested."

"I wasn't too happy with it and I just met him," Nia shook her head, "I hate it when people put their bodies on the line like that just as... bait."

"Sounds... interesting." Raine said.

"Where's your team at, anyway?" Nia asked her, "And didn't you bring Aulin and her boyfriend too?"

Raine nodded. "Yeah, they're all in the village. Jace went to see Hayley and the others are just looking around the market. I'd guess they'll be here later."

"They do remember how to get here, right?" Halt asked.

"I mean... probably," Raine said, "I forgot to ask. And Aulin and Alex haven't been here yet. I probably should've brought everyone to meet you back then..." She leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, "I'm sure Jace, Alyss, and Auron can remember. Speaking of everyone, what are the sleeping arrangements?"

"Either sleep on the couches and floor, or set up a tent outside," Halt answered, "We don't have the biggest house, you know."

"Can't someone just sleep in Emowyn's room?"

"Unless they wanna accidentally find _something_ of hers," Nia said with a laugh, "But I guess someone could sleep in there."

"One of the couples are gonna call it." Raine grinned.

"Just tell them the walls are thin," Halt said, "I don't want a bunch of those sounds keeping me up at night."

"The only ones you'll maybe have to be worried about are Alex and Aulin," Raine said, "The most that Jace and Alyss are gonna do is purr."

"You be sure to warn the other two that if I wake up because of them, they're sleeping in a tent for the week." Halt replied.

"I'll let them know."

* * *

"I was wondering if we'd have to send a search party," Raine remarked to the others as she leaned against the railing of the porch, "It took you guys long enough."

"I got caught up with talking to Hayley about Ironwood," Jace told her, "Plus I asked if Tyr ever called her back.'

"I'm so tired, but I don't mind," Alyss said, "Saint said he felt some pressure in his shoulder, like what Jax felt in his eye when I healed him. I have my plan for the week."

"I'll be making rounds between talking with Hayley and going with Alyss." Jace grinned as he let Alyss lean on him.

"Some guy was askin' all kinds o' questions about my guns," Auron said, "He tried buyin' my revolvers off me an' he wouldn't go away."

"That was probably Birch. He's kind of a gun nut," Raine said, "He means well."

"Jace is just lucky he wasn't with us," Aulin said, "He'd be all over his sword."

"I bought a shotgun from him," Alex said, pulling a triple-barreled, sawed-off shotgun from the holster on his thigh, "It was on sale."

"Of course it was," Raine chuckled, "Come on in. And you two can meet mom and dad." She said lastly to Alex and Aulin.

"It's about time." Aulin said.

They entered the house and they all sat around in the living room as 'welcome back's and introductions were said. They all just relaxed until they all prepared for bed, and then came the discussion of who would get Emowyn's room.

"I say you two can," Alyss said to Alex and Aulin, "We kinda took the guest room at Auron's after you both woke up, so it's fair."

"You'll get no arguments from us," Aulin said with a grin, "We appreciate it."

"The walls are thin," Raine told them, "Dad said if he hears anything that keeps him up, then he'll throw you outside and you'll have to sleep in a tent."

Aulin shrugged. "We'll think of something."

"If you keep me up then you're getting tossed through the window." Alyss said.

"As long as we're in agreement that you not do anything, then you'll be good." Raine said to the two.

"Okay, we get it!" Aulin laughed, "Like I said. We'll think of something."

"And don't you two keep us up either, " Auron said to the two cat Faunus, "You can get real loud when you purr an' shit."

"Do we seriously get that loud?" Jace asked them all.

"You kinda do, yeah." Raine said.

"Just try to keep it gentle when you start," Auron said, "The gentle purrs put me to sleep."

"We'll try." Alyss assured him.

"Are you all about ready to sleep yet?" Halt asked at the doorway to his and Nia's bedroom, "Because y'know, the walls and talking doesn't mix that well with our hearing."

"Sorry Halt." Jace apologized and pulled Alyss down onto a couch with him.

"I'm going to bed now," Raine said, but not before turning to those that will be in Emowyn's room, "Don't get nosy with Em's room."

Aulin shook her head. "I honestly didn't plan on it. Now I'm curious."

"Seriously. Don't."


	36. Chapter 36: Gone Fishing

**Chapter Thirty Six**

 **Gone Fishing**

"Have you guys ever been fishing?" Raine asked on Friday. Most of the group were sitting on and around the small porch on a sunny and cool day.

"Fishin'?" Auron grinned, "Man, I ain't been in I don't know how long. Back when I was a kid at least. We used to have family days out at the river an' we hung out an' fished. I remember dad tied a rope around my stomach an' tied me to a tree when I was real young to keep me from fallin' in the water."

"Your dad tied you to a tree?" Aulin asked, beginning to laugh loudly, "Are you serious!? That has to be the funniest fucking thing I've ever heard!"

Everyone else outside began to laugh with her, along with Auron himself. "I'm serious. He just wanted to keep me from fallin' in. It was after I was old enough to not need that rope when I started fishin'. I've been wantin' to go again for a long time."

"What about you guys?" Raine asked the others, still grinning at what Auron said.

"Never," Jace replied, "Atlas isn't the best for anything like that."

"Yeah, I haven't either." Alex said.

"City girl, here," Aulin chimed in lastly, "Haven't really been around any water to try."

Alyss was asleep. She had been for the past few days since she actually grew Saint's arm for him. It had surprised everyone when it happened. No one knew how long she would be out.

"I take it you've been?" Auron asked the apprentice Ranger.

Raine nodded. "A lot when I was a kid. At some ruins, there's a river that runs through it. I went there a lot to practice by myself and I learned how to fish from Braxton if you can believe that. Then I just started fishing there every once in awhile with the rod he gave me and when I caught something big enough, I brought it back and mom fixed it for me."

"That was after Halt taught her how to gut and filet them," Nia interjected at the door to the house, "Then she started hunting small game too."

"Never pegged you for a fisher," Auron said to Raine, "Maybe a hunter, but I didn't expect you to fish."

Raine grinned. "Basic survival, really. I got a head start when I started fishing before dad could get to it. Then he taught me the basics of hunting and I went from there."

"Welp, we got our plans for the day!" Aulin cheered, "Let's go try it out!"

"I'm in," Jace said, "I'd like to try. Maybe catch a good one if I'm lucky. But..." He sighed, "I don't want to leave Alyss out..."

"Leave me outta what...?"

"You're awake!" Jace exclaimed at seeing his girlfriend at the door with a tired look on her face.

"Yeah," Alyss yawned, "Barely... Now what am I being left out of?"

"Nothing now that you're awake. We were gonna go fishing at the river Raine just kinda talked about."

"Let's do it!" Alyss said cheerfully and tiredly, "It sounds fun and relaxing... but I might fall asleep on you."

Jace smiled. "You can fall asleep on me any time, Pretty Kitty."

"Aww," Nia giggled, "I haven't heard you call her that this week. That's adorable."

Jace smiled more as Alyss sat in his lap. "It's my nickname for her."

Alex shrugged when everyone looked to him for his answer on a fishing trip. "I don't know how well I'd do, but it's worth a try. Let's go."

"Awesome," Auron grinned, "I guess me an' you are gonna have to play teacher, Raine."

"Looks like it," Raine laughed, "I guess we should go buy some rods and bait."

"Why don't we just camp out for a day or two?" Aulin suggested, "It's something I've always wanted to do. Y'know, without being tied to a mission."

"It's supposed to be pretty nice these next few days," Nia told them, "You shouldn't have to worry about rain if you decide to."

"We have to worry about her every day though." Jace grinned.

"So do I, but that's the wrong one," Nia laughed, "The weather should hold up, though."

* * *

"That'll be one hundred lien for everything," The clerk of the survival and hunting equipment shop said after adding up everything. Everyone, barring Raine, had to buy sleeping bags because no one expected to need their own. They also bought the fishing rods and bait they needed, "Plannin' a campin' trip, Raine?"

She nodded. "They thought it would be fun and I do too. Thanks, Drey."

"Don't you still have that ol' rod that Brax gave ya?" Drey asked, "I guess that's why you didn't get one for yourself, right?"

"Right."

Everyone paid their share of lien for everything and left the shop. They made their way back to Raine's house and she grabbed a spare axe from the shed, putting it through a large hoop on her belt. Nia gave them a last farewell and told them all to be careful, then the group set off into the forest.

"You sure you're good to carry all of that?" Aulin asked her diminutive friend with a grin. Raine was carrying _Amaranth_ , her sword and knife, her fishing rod, the axe, and a small grill for a fire pit on her back.

"Yeah, why?" Raine asked, "I've carried this stuff like this before."

"I would offer to help, but I kinda have my hands full." Jace said. Alyss was leaning into his side as he had his arm around her shoulder, walking tiredly along. In his other arm, Jace carried both of their sleeping bags and fishing rods.

"I'm not gonna make anyone else carry anything since you're all my guests. Just keep ready to carry Aly if she falls asleep," Raine said to Jace, "She looks exhausted."

"I am..." Alyss yawned.

Jace looked down at her head that was leaning against his shoulder and he kissed between her cat ears. He worked to slling everything over his left shoulder for a few moments, then he picked Alyss up and carried her bridal-style.

"Here you go," Jace smiled as she looked up at him in confusion, "I don't want you to walk if you're so tired."

Alyss smiled sleepily and leaned up to kiss him. "Thank you, Kitten. I love you."

"Love you too, Sleepy Kitty."

Alyss giggled and turned her head back to Raine. "How far away are the ruins?" She asked.

"Maybe thirty minutes away." Raine answered, grinning at them both.

"You walked that far just to train alone?" Alex asked.

Raine nodded. "Yeah. I rarely had to deal with Grimm since it's kinda close to Calm. And it's just a relaxing walk."

"What are the ruins like?" Jace asked.

Raine sighed and shook her head. "Too many questions, guys," She laughed, "You'll see. It's kinda like a really ancient outpost like before the Great War. It's got broken down walls and stone scattered around and it's got a few small buildings that are still standing. It's pretty cool."

"You're probably gonna stab me for asking another question..." Aulin started, "but is it like those one ruins we found in our initiation?"

"Same style, yeah, but it's not like a keep or anything for royalty. Just some training grounds I'm guessing. There's the main barracks, then four little buildings that me and dad fixed up some, so each of us can get our own room. And actually-"

"This one remembers you saying that you and Halt built a small cabin there, right?"

Raine stopped in her tracks and her head bolted upwards to see a pair of legs swinging off a tree branch just ahead of them. She smiled as the woman slipped her hood off her head, revealing a wide smile and a pierced lip, blue and black hair, and cat ears.

"Vivi!" Raine called and waved, dropping everything she was carrying, "Auron, get me up there!"

Auron rolled his eyes. "Well, I knew my semblance would-"

"Shut up and do it!"

Auron shook his head and sent his aura through his leg and into the ground, causing a pillar to come up under Raine. When she rose up enough, Raine jumped toward Vivi and the Ranger held her arms open. Raine crashed into her and Vivi caught her and fell backwards, hooking her legs over the branch. Vivi held her there as they hung upside down, smiling as Raine wrapped her decievingly strong arms around her and peppered her with kisses.

"Wh-what are you doing here!?" Raine asked Vivi after a few moments, "Don't you have work to do?"

"This one actually got finished with a patrol yesterday," Vivi grinned, "Halt took her place for awhile. She was about to go back to Vale, but she saw you in Calm. She would have came to say hi but she noticed you were buying fishing rods."

"Aren't you afraid you're gonna fall up from up there?" Alex asked the two.

"I have very strong leg muscles." Vivi answered him.

"And very awesome thighs." Raine added.

"I've noticed that whenever she doesn't wear her cloak." Aulin grinned.

"Stop checking out my girlfriend!" Raine yelled.

"Does it make you feel better that I only check you out?" Vivi asked her, tilting her head.

Raine smiled. "It means the world to me." She said and kissed her again.

"This one is glad to be back in your arms," Vivi murmured, "They are so much stronger than hers. That bow of yours helps with that, right?"

"Don't sell yourself short. Your arms are strong too. I missed you so much, Vivi," Raine kissed her again, "It's been four months... How long until you have to go back? I noticed your fishing rod leaning against the tree down there."

"I just thought I would take a few days to myself and say that I was still patrolling the border for a few extra days. I asked Nia not to tell you."

"Well, she didn't," Raine said, leaning in very close to Vivi's cat ears, "I'm so glad you're here. Because tonight... and tomorrow night... you're mine."

Vivi grinned. "And you're mine."

* * *

"So, any tips for fishing?" Jace asked Raine, Vivi, and Auron.

They had made it to their destination after a bit longer, and Raine was much happier since Vivi had joined them. The area had stones scattered around from broken down walls, and the walls were still standing in some parts with some stones in the river that ran through the side of the outpost. There were six buildings in the area, five of mossy stone and whatever holes that were in the stone had been patched up with wood, along with the roofs and doors having been completely replaced. There were four smaller buildings that were likely for officers and a larger barracks that would have housed soldiers. Lastly, there was a small wooden shack built away from them with a small roof extending from the main building that went over an empty lot, which would be for firewood.

"Have patience, mostly." Raine said, staring at her bobbing lure in the river.

"Just have the patience you had up at that weapon gallery." Auron told him.

Jace laughed. "I wasn't patient. I just tried to listen to Aly."

"And what happened in Atlas?" Vivi asked.

"Two dipshits started spoutin' a bunch o' bullshit is my understandin' of it." Auron said.

"That's not far from the truth," Jace said, "They started saying crap about wondering if Faunus go through heat cycles. Then they started talking about our parents."

"People just don't know how to keep their beliefs to themselves," Vivi shook her head, "Well, you didn't get in trouble at least."

"Yeah, because I'm kinda friends with Ironwood," Jace sighed, "I hate that I just used my connection with him like that..."

"Those people ran off when Jace called him..." Alyss yawned as she put her head on Jace's shoulder, almost nodding off, "I think it's alright. Hopefully when school starts, then he'll do something about them. You shouldn't feel bad if that might stop them from maybe doing that to other students."

"Yeah, really," Aulin chimed in, "I mean, I'm all for kicking the shit out of some racists when they come up, but I'd rather not deal with a lecture from Goodwitch."

"I guess that's true," Jace agreed slowly, "I don't want to have to rely on that connection, but I'll call him if anything really bad starts."

"I don't know who would be worse to have yell at you," Alex said with a grin, "Ironwood or Goodwitch."

"What about Ozpin?" Jace asked, "I mean, if something is enough to get him to yell, then I want no part of it."

"This one has never seen him lose his temper." Vivi said.

"Oh!" Alyss jumped and grabbed her pole as her line was being tugged, "I-I think I got a fish!"

"Good job. At least you're lucky with it," Jace said, "I think it woke you up pretty well."

"Slowly reel it in," Raine said and Alyss complied, "When it pulls, don't reel because it'll strain the line. Wait until it stops pulling and reel. When it's close enough to the surface, you can pull it straight out of the water."

Alyss focused and slowly turned the reel. Raine had left her rod with Vivi as she walked over to oversee Alyss.

"Fuck! I think I got something too!" Aulin said as her line started being pulled.

Raine grinned as she looked over, seeing Alex helping pull on the rod, both of them either forgetting or ignoring what Raine had said to do. She looked back and Alyss already had her catch close, just about ready to pull it out of the water.

"Raine, when can I pull?" Alyss asked the apprentice, not taking her eyes off the line.

"Pull it in a bit more..." Raine told her. After a few moments of reeling, letting the fish swim away a bit to tire itself out, and deep concentration with Alyss' tongue poking a bit from her lips, the fish was finally close enough

"Pull it now!" Raine said and Alyss pulled on the rod, pulling a medium-sized salmon from the river.

"I got it!" Alyss cheered and brought the fish over the ground.

"Congrats on your first catch," Raine grinned, "Mine was a small metal grate."

"Mine was a fuckin' pistol if you can believe that." Auron laughed.

"This one's was a crawfish." Vivi chimed in.

Alyss eyed the fish on her hook and she licked her lips. Jace saw the look on her face and lightly flicked her on the nose with a finger. "Hey, don't go eating dinner right now. Save it for-" He stopped when his pole was pulled in his hand and he looked to the water, seeing his line shaking and straining.

"I got one!" He called, panicking a bit as he just pulled hard on the rod with his prosthetic. He actually pulled his catch straight out of the water, a salmon that was a bit larger than the one Alyss caught.

"Ha! Fuck yes!" Jace cheered and laughed, "Who needs patience?" He asked and laughed again.

"Fuck!"

"Shit!"

Everyone heard Aulin and Alex yell at once and looked over to see both of them tumbling down the bank and into the water. Everyone started laughing hard at seeing the splashing the two were causing, and frequent curses when one of them had their head above water. After a few moments, Alex rose out of the water and pulled out a huge catfish, hoisting it over his head as it squirmed and writhed in his strong grip.

"We fucking win! Suck it!"

* * *

Later that day when the sun started going down, everyone sat around the campfire as Raine prepared their dinner. Vivi had caught a fish herself while everyone was either watching Jace and Alyss or Aulin and Alex. With the catfish that Alex caught, they had enough to last that night and the next morning at least. But, that was doubtful with the cat Faunus in the group.

"I should be about done with your clothes." Jace told Alex and Aulin, waving his hands over their clothes, radiating burn dust from them.

"Good, because I don't like sitting here in my damn boxers." Alex grumbled.

"I'm fine for now. There's no rush." Aulin said, clad in just her bra and panties.

"Speak for yourself. I'm fucking cold."

Aulin leaned over and wrapped her arms around him, beginning to rub her body against him. "I'll warm you up more later."

"These buildin's better be spaced out enough." Auron said.

Raine laughed. "Oh they should be. I'm sure it'll be tested out."

"When's the food gonna be done?" Alyss asked, staring at the fish sizzling over the fire with tired eyes.

"In just a few minutes, don't worry." Raine assured her.

"This one will be glad to eat," Vivi said, licking her lips, "She hasn't eaten in so long."

"Be patient, Big Kitty," Raine told her, "You'll get it when I say you can get it."

"I don't know if you're talking about food or something else." Aulin said.

"I'm talking about the food," Raine replied, "I'm the cook, so I say when everyone eats."

"And I'm the laundry man," Jace spoke up with a grin, "I say when people can wear their clothes. You two can wear your clothes now." He said and tossed them over to the two half-naked teens.

"Cool. Now I can not sit on uncomfortable ground with my bare ass." Aulin said and quickly worked to pull her jeans on.

"And now I can warm up a bit more," Alex said as he did the same with his clothes. When he finished putting his light-blue jacket on, he looked down at Aulin, "Leaving your shirt off?" He asked, seeing that she had just laid her shirt to the side.

"For now," Aulin grinned, "I feel like being nice to you."

"Sweet."

Now that Jace had finally finished laundry duty, Alyss laid her torso across his lap. "It took you long enough." She said mockingly and tiredly.

"Well, I'm pretty sure they didn't want their clothes burned, so I had to be careful," Jace replied, starting to scritch her ears, "I dunno. Maybe I should've pushed you in the water earlier."

Alyss frowned. "What for?"

Jace raised an eyebrow. "So I can see your body."

"I would've slapped you so hard and I would've stopped giving you scritches for a month," Alyss said, crossing her arms as she _purred_ under his ministrations, "I hate going in water."

Jace tilted his head. "I didn't know that. I'm glad I didn't, then."

"Aw, the cat's afraid of water." Aulin laughed.

"I'm not afraid of it," Alyss countered, "I just don't like it."

"Any reason for it?" Auron asked her.

"It's just... I really hate it when it gets in my ears," Alyss answered, "I can deal with showers and the rain just fine, but not actually going in water."

"I guess that makes sense," Jace said, "I hate that crap too."

"Same." Raine said.

"This one can't stand it either." Vivi said.

"Okay!" Raine said and gained everyone's attention, "Food's done. Now, I can either set it out of the fire so it can cool down for ten minutes, or..." She looked to Jace with a grin.

Jace sighed good-naturedly. "Right. I'll cool it down."

Raine moved the grill out of the fire and set it next to Jace, and he hovered his hands over the food and radiated ice dust from them as Alyss moved out of his lap.

"Well great," Alyss pouted, "Now my ears aren't being scritched."

"You know what, it's been a while," Raine said and went to sit next to Alyss, "I'll scritch them for you."

Alyss gave her a grin. "Are you sure it won't make Vivi jealous?"

Raine looked over to her girlfriend, seeing that she was putting on a sad face as she flattened her ears out to the sides. "Well, she can come sit next to me and I'll do it to both of you... unless she would prefer to wait."

Vivi immediately crawled over to sit next to the diminutive fox Faunus. Raine grinned as she reached her hands up to both cat Faunus' ears. She started rubbing and scratching both pairs of ears, filling the area with loud purrs. Every so often, Raine gave a little pinch to one of Vivi's ears, causing her purring to raise in pitch for a split second before returning to it's normal, deeper state.

"So, I've heard great things about you, Alyss." Vivi said to the teen.

"Hmm? Like what?" Alyss asked, stirred from nearly falling asleep again.

"That you've grown a child's arm fully. People have been saying that you're one of the four Maidens or an angel sent from Light."

"She's pretty enough to be an angel." Jace said and poked at a piece of fish to see if it was cooled off some.

"I just... did what I said I was gonna do," Alyss said, smiling that some people thought so highly of her, "I don't deserve to be called an angel or a Maiden..."

"Maybe not, but you did do a lot o' good with what you did," Auron said, "You're pretty high up there, though."

"You got great looks, a great semblance, and you always try to help people," Aulin told Alyss with a grin, "All of those go so good together."

"Are you hitting on my ma-" Jace stopped himself and his voice almost caught in his throat, "M-my girlfriend?"

Alyss shot her head up and looked at Jace curiously as Aulin laughed. "You know me. I hit on everyone."

"Yeah, I know. By the way, the food's ready." Jace said and everyone crowded around the grill.

* * *

"Okay..." Alyss yawned and rose up from the ground after their dinner, "I really need to go to sleep..."

"It's like eight, though." Aulin said.

"And I just woke up this morning from growing an arm. I honestly don't think I should've woke up this early."

"I guess that means Jace is turnin' in too." Auron said with a grin as the Atlesian stood from the ground as well.

Jace nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to sleep too. Gotta keep my Sleepy Kitty warm and comfortable."

"Good night, I guess." Raine said, giving a wave to the two.

The two went to one of the small stone huts and entered, shutting the door behind them as the others stayed around the fire. Vivi went for one of the extra pieces of salmon that Raine grilled and she _hummed_ as she took a bite.

"Mmm. This one thinks your cooking is very good." She said to her girlfriend.

"If only I would've brought some spices with me, then I could give it more flavor." Raine replied and kissed Vivi on the cheek.

"If only you could cook on a stove, then my workload would be taken down some." Auron remarked.

"Hey, just let me know if you wanna teach me." Raine said.

"What? So you guys can compete and have us all be guinea pigs?" Alex asked and laughed, "Sounds awesome."

"I still got my jerky to make," Auron said, "Speakin' o' that, I gotta make some soon."

"This one may go to sleep soon too," Vivi said with a short yawn, "She has been spending late nights out on patrol."

"Aw, really?" Raine asked in slight disappointment, "Don't you wanna stay up just a bit longer?" She looked into Vivi's face with a mischievous look in her light-violet eyes.

Vivi looked back at her and saw that look. The slight grin that Raine had made her body shiver in the best of ways. "I think I can stay up."

* * *

 **AN: Some sexual content on the way! Proceed with caution! Also, it's completely optional to read unlike the first, so skip if you want.**

"Goodnight, guys. I know you're gonna stay up to talk to Shyla," Raine said to Auron with a grin, "Tell her I said hi."

"Sure," Auron replied, "Seeya in the mornin'."

"'Night." Aulin said to the others, almost pulling Alex along with her."

"Don't stay up too late." Vivi told her with a grin.

"Umm, we can only promise to try." Alex said and the five separated to the areas they had chosen to sleep.

Raine and Vivi entered the Ranger-built cabin and Raine closed the door, locking it behind her. She set _Amaranth_ and her two quivers on the hook next to the door and Vivi leaned her twin swords, _Obsidian_ , against the wall under them, joined by Raine's sword. The two both put their separate cloaks on the hooks near where Raine hung her bow. When they were done, the apprentice Ranger lit a bright, bolt-dust fueled lantern and hung it up on the ceiling in the middle of the building after standing on a chair, setting it to light the entire room up.

As soon as Raine did that, she grabbed Vivi and pulled her head down for a deep kiss. She immediately sent her tongue past their lips and into Vivi's mouth. She forcefully circled Vivi's tongue with her own as the two drifted closer to one of the beds. Raine pulled back from Vivi and bit her lip a bit along the way, releasing it and then put a finger on her lips to silence a protest of the abrupt end.

Raine went over to the other bed and pushed it to the other side of the room, quickly lining it up and pushing it against the other bed. When she finished with that, she immediately returned to Vivi, resuming what she had started. Raine reached and grabbed Vivi's shirt, unable to resist the urge to just tear it off her body. She tore the fabric easily and immediately tore the strap of her bra. Raine pulled the ruined garment off of her girlfriend, finally revealing those large breasts that she had been wanting to see again for so long.

Before she could do anything, Vivi bit Raine's lip a bit and ripped Raine's shirt down the middle, grabbing and ripping her bra along the way, revealing her significantly smaller bust. They both returned to locking their lips as they threw their ruined clothes off to the corner of the room.

"Four damn months..." Raine growled and pushed Vivi down onto the beds, then she dropped down over her.

"Oh how I've missed this..." Vivi said breathlessly as Raine started squeezing each breast hard, "It's been way too-Ah!" She gasped when Raine dug her fingernails into them.

Raine drug her nails down, ending as she flicked Vivi's nipples with them. Vivi dug her nails deeply into Raine's arms and drug down, causing a cry of pleasure and eight long marks down to show up on her arms. Raine lowered herself down and sucked around her neck, biting down with her fangs every so often as one of her hands snaked down Vivi's stomach toward her lower lips.

Raine growled and sent her mouth down, setting it around one of Vivi's nipples as she started massaging her clit, rubbing up and down through her pants. Vivi closed her eyes and started _moaning_ louder as she sent her nails into Raine's back, causing it to arch in pleasure as she bit down around Vivi's tit. Raine rubbed more and Vivi opened her eyes, revealing their slitted appearance. She grabbed Raine and flipped her over to the side, then she was hovering above her.

She grinned, showing her fangs. "You aren't getting me that easily, Little Fox."

"Prove it..." Raine taunted her.

"Gladly."

Vivi sent her mouth down to Raine's neck, sucking hard as she pinched one of her nipples with her fingers, rolling it between them. Raine reached up and put a hand on the back of Vivi's head, pulling it tighter against her as the elder Faunus sent her free hand down to clamp over her vagina. She let her claws extend and she ripped the fabric of the pants, making Raine sigh.

"Y'know, it's not like I brought a change of clothes out here..." She said irritably.

Vivi bit down on her neck a bit harder and brought a gasp and _moan_ from Raine. "Look in the corner, dummy."

Raine took her eyes off the ceiling and looked in the corner closest to them, seeing a couple of bags sitting there. "This one got some from your house when she was there. Nia just grinned at her."

Raine smirked. "In that case, just rip them off all the way."

"Once again... Gladly."

Vivi rose up from Raine and grabbed her pants, then ripped them more where she had started as Raine brought her feet up and untied her boots. Vivi rubbed her fingers over Raine's clit for a few moments, causing the shorter girl to start _moaning_ now. Raine kicked her boots off and Vivi pulled her pants off, then she threw them to join their ruined shirts and bras. As Vivi lowered herself back down, Raine moved out of the way and pulled her down onto the bed on her stomach. Raine crawled over her and dug her fingernails into her ass, squeezing hard and grabbing her pants. Raine ripped Vivi's jeans and reached around to undo her belt, then she ripped them even more and ripped the thin fabric of her panties.

Raine pulled Vivi up on her knees, keeping her face on the mattress so her ass was in the air. Raine sent her tongue up the length of Vivi's lips, making the cat Faunus _moan_ loudly.

"First." Raine giggled and licked again.

"D-damn..." Vivi sighed and shuddered as her lover's tongue kept making contact with her, "Th-this one thought she had you."

"Almost, Big Kitty. Almost."

* * *

"It _has_ been awhile... You usually last longer." Raine remarked and lightly rubbed the inside of Vivi's thighs after the elder Faunus had climaxed, being squeezed hard by Vivi.

"It really has..." Vivi said breathlessly.

"I always love to be squeezed like this by your legs. It always makes me so happy."

Vivi giggled. "Mmm... I'll always be more than happy to squeeze you tight with them."

Soon, Raine extracted herself from Vivi's weakening legs and crawled up her body. She kissed Vivi softly and passionately as Vivi wrapped her arms around her, pulling her closer.

After a few moments, Raine pulled back and smiled. "It's been way too long."

"It has been." Vivi agreed.

"I hope you're not too worn out," Raine said, licking her lips, "I don't wanna give and not-oh!" She was cut off when Vivi moved her hands down, digging her fingernails deeply into Raine's skin on her backside, " _Ohhhh~_ " She closed her eyes in pleasure as Vivi squeezed and massaged her ass.

"Oh it's been way too long..." Vivi pulled Raine onto the bed and was soon hovering over her with a mischievous and almost predatory look in her slitted, golden eyes, the sight making Raine very excited.

"You, Little Fox, are going to be this one's scratching post for a long, _long_ time tonight."

Raine smirked. "Prove it."


	37. Chapter 37: Angel

**AN: Hello everyone! I'm posting this chapter today because Christmas is tomorrow. I just felt like that would be the best thing to do since whoever reads this that celebrates it might be busy with things.**

 **Merry Christmas, happy holidays, hug your loved ones, and have a nice day!**

 **Chapter Thirty Seven**

 **Angel**

The group stayed at the ruins for the next day, then they ventured back to Raine's home on Sunday. They had all relaxed around the small house for the rest of the day, then they started to leave for Vale in the morning.

Nia stepped forward and gave her daughter a hug. "It was good to see you, Raine. I guess I'll see you in a few weeks."

"It was good to meet you, Nia," Aulin said, "Thank you for having us."

"It was good to meet you both too, Aulin," Nia told Aulin and Alex, "Come back any time. That goes for everyone here."

"I'd like to..." Alyss started to say and yawned, "keep coming every once in a while. It's nice.

"I'll be here every few months at least," Jace said, "I know it doesn't need it, but I just want to get my arm a checkup every few months."

"I'm sure Halt would let you stay here when you do," Nia smiled, "I have no problem with it."

"I think this is something we could do every year," Alex started with a grin, "Just visit each other's house for a week."

"Maybe next time, this one can actually stay for more than a few days." Vivi said.

"And hopefully you won't get missions that keep you away from me for so long." Raine said, standing on her toes to give Vivi a kiss.

"That kinda makes me feel bad," Alyss said and yawned again, "Me and Jace are together like... all the time."

"So are we," Aulin said and rubbed the back of her neck, "Never really thought about that."

"It's really not so bad," Raine said with a small grin, "It just makes me want to do everything I can when we _are_ together."

"Like what Eli told me and Alyss before," Jace said, "You're away from each other for so long and you just cherish your time when you're together again."

"Exactly." Raine said.

"Especially since we're both Rangers." Vivi added.

"Isn't that what Ozpin said at the dance too?" Auron asked, "Just cherish what time we spend together? Well, at least I know Shyla's gonna be safe."

"That's true, but she's got you to worry about." Aulin said.

Auron chuckled. "Yeah, she does. I gotta try to be more careful."

"I guess we're gonna go now, mom," Raine said after a few moments, "Do you wanna walk with us to the airdocks?"

Nia smiled again and nodded. "I can. I'll be able to spend a bit more time with you at least."

The group set off through the forest toward the village, walking slowly to enjoy the peaceful moment. Their airship wasn't scheduled to leave for a little while, so they had no worries of missing it. Jace had opted to carry Alyss like he had a few days prior, she was still tired and drowsy from what she did.

Soon, they walked by the walls of Calm and past the guards, who had greeted them all in kindness. They walked through the gates and went toward the roofed waiting area near the airdocks where the ship was sitting. Auron went to take his truck inside and then he rolled Titan inside while Jace stayed with Alyss. Jace took _Legacy_ off his back and leaned it against a post holding the canopy up and he sat down with Alyss still in his arms. She nuzzled her head into his shoulder and relaxed.

"I can get used to you carrying me around like this." She murmured.

Jace smiled at hearing that. "I can't have you fall asleep while you're walking. I don't want you to get hurt from falling on your face."

"Umm..." Alex spoke up and looked around the area.

"What is it?" Jace asked, taking his eyes from Alyss and looking at him.

"I think we're drawing a bit of a crowd." Aulin said.

"Huh?" Jace looked around and saw multiple people had crowded around the waiting area, "Oh..."

"Excuse me," The village mayor, Bowing, greeted them all and stepped forward, "Alyssia Wystar is here, correct?"

"I'm here," Alyss greeted him, standing from Jace's lap and bowing tiredly, "Was there something you needed, sir?"

"I want to thank you, young lady," Bowing said, giving a deep bow toward her, "I have been working with Maria and Hayley, trying to find some way to get her son a prosthetic sooner. We have been trying to do something to help him for so long. Since you've been to Calm those months ago, I have heard of the kindness you showed to Maria's daughter. I wanted to thank you then, but you were on the way to Pyne when I found out. And then just a few days ago... you performed a miracle for one of our own. You grew an arm..."

"Sir... you don't have to thank me for doing that," Alyss said softly, "I'm training to be a Huntress, and I only did what I said what I was gonna do with my semblance. I just want to help anyone."

"And I understand that," Bowing said, raising to his full height with tears in his eyes, "I have never met anyone who is as kind as you are. I know this may not be much... but please take this." He pulled a small box out of his pocket.

Alyss immediately shook her head. "You don't have to give me anything, sir. I only just want to help..."

"I know, and I respect that so much. But please," Bowing insisted, "It is a ring that I had made. I spoke with Raine over messages and she told me what she believed your ring size is. I want you to take it and know that you are forever welcome here. This is something I have rarely done for anyone outside of Calm. Please, Alyssia, it would be an honor for you to take this."

Alyss hesitated as she looked down, her eyes beginning to shed tears. She looked up and slowly reached for the small box. She took it from him and just stared at it for a few moments while her friends, boyfriend, and a growing crowd of villagers watched. Slowly, she opened the box and her voice caught in her throat. The ring was silver. It was wide-banded and it split and swirled to where it held a beautiful amethyst that matched her earring. Engraved in the silver were designs of leaves, matching her oakleaf emblem.

She slowly took it out of the box and held it between her fingers. She handed the box back to Bowing and he held it for her, then she went to put the ring on. It fit perfectly onto her right ring finger. She looked at it for a few moments, then she looked up to the mayor.

"I-I don't know what to say..." Alyss said after a few moments of silence.

"You don't need to say anything, miss," Bowing gave a wide smile, "This is the highest honor I can give, if it can be considered that. I don't know if I can ever truly show my gratitude."

Alyss took the ring box back from him and she clutched it to her chest. "Th-thank you, sir."

"Now... I will leave you to your business. You are always welcome here, Alyssia."

"Please, sir. J-just call me Alyss."

Bowing bowed deeply once more before he left her. Alyss just stood there, swaying back and forth on her feet from the fatigue she felt. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to her right, seeing Jace standing there with a smile on his face.

"You okay? You look like you're about to fall over."

Alyss nodded slowly. "I just... don't deserve all this praise..."

Jace's smile widened. "Sure you do. You grew a kid's arm where he was born without one. I think you deserve all the praise in the world. I think you do after what you did for me when we met, and I think they think so too." He finished, looking around at all the faces that were looking back at them.

Alyss looked through the crowd of people and saw every one of them smiling at her. She saw Hayley and Braxton in front with Eli and a woman with golden-yellow hair and matching eyes. Then there was the dragon Faunus blacksmith she and Jace had met, Steele. She looked further through the crowd and saw Maria and her children, all waving at her with Saint waving his right arm, the scales the same as his left.

Alyss waved back at them and the three walked toward her. "Hello... I-I'm sorry that I fell asleep like that. My semblance just... makes me so tired. I didn't wake up until Friday."

"Thank you so much!" Saint exclaimed and hugged her, "I can do so many things now and I can play a whole bunch more!"

"I don't know how I can ever thank you, Alyss," Maria said and wrapped her arms around her in a hug, "I know you say you just want to help, but I just can't thank you enough for your kindness... Y-you're an angel..."

"I-I'm really not, though..." Alyss said quietly, "I hope you'll all be alright in the future."

"U-umm... Alyss?" Zarya stepped forward a bit and held her hands out, holding something, "I made this for you... C-can you maybe wear it?"

Maria and Saint stepped away from her and Alyss crouched down to her level. She handed the ring box to Jace and he held it for her as she took what Zarya handed her. It was a bracelet of purple string and multiple little blocks. When Alyss read them, her eyes teared up even more. It said " _Kitty Angel_ ".

Alyss slipped the bracelet around her wrist and she tightened it to fit a bit loosely, but not enough to fall off her wrist. She looked from the bracelet to Zarya and she gave a shaky smile. "I'll wear it every day, sweetie. I promise." Alyss said to her.

Zarya came forward and wrapped her small arms around her neck for a hug. "Thank you for helping me and my brother, Alyss. I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you all too," Alyss said and hugged back, "I'm glad I helped you both."

They released each other and Alyss stood up to her height. She stayed silent for several moments as everything just sunk in for her.

"Hey Aly," Raine said just behind her, "The airship's about to leave."

Alyss looked back at her and nodded, then she looked back to the small family, and ultimately to the small, assembled crowd. "Thank you all for thinking so highly of me. I just do this because I want to help people. I don't do it for praise or lien or anything like that. I heal people to see their happiness, and I do it so they don't have to be embarrassed or ashamed of any scar or injury..." She gave a loud, long yawn, "When I come back in the future and if someone is hurt, please don't hesitate to find me. I just hope you really never have to."

Alyss said some final goodbyes to everyone there, and Hayley reminded her to keep taking care of Jace's arm. Everyone boarded the airship as Raine gave one more hug to her mother. Vivi was taking that flight as well, considering she needed to go to Vale anyway.

Jace sat down with Alyss at one of the tables by the window and she immediately put her head against his shoulder. "So, how are you feeling?" Jace asked her and set the ring box on the table.

After several moments without an answer, Jace looked down at her. "Alyss?"

Aulin grinned from across the table. "She passed out."

* * *

"Aly. Wake up." Jace nudged Alyss' shoulder a few times, stopping her sleepy _purring_ as she opened her eyes.

"Hmm?"

"We're in Vale now."

Alyss sat up and yawned loudly. "Gods, I'm so tired."

"Hopefully you can stay up long enough to get you to your bed."

Aulin laughed and smirked. "That's one way to get a girl in bed."

"If I wasn't so tired, I'd smack you," Alyss said, "Also, don't you dare be doing that stuff in our house. Mom's nose is more sensitive and the smell of the hormones gives her a bad headache."

The stare that Alyss sent the Aulin and Alex made them shiver. "Yeah... let's not." Alex said.

"Or I guess you can... I dunno... do it in the shower or Auron's truck. If it's the truck, then shower after."

Auron stared at Alyss with a look that said, ' _Really?_ '. "Don't just give my truck over to them."

"Well they can take the shower then."

Aulin shrugged it off. "It's fine, Aly. I'm not gonna risk making your mom uncomfortable, and I haven't even met her yet."

They all felt the airship touch down and gave it a few moments before they moved to leave. Vivi and Raine came up to them and Vivi waved goodbye. "Time for this one to go back to her duties. It was a fun few days."

"In more ways than one," Raine grinned and kissed Vivi, then she looked back to the others, "I'll catch up with you guys in a bit."

She and Vivi left and they all went to the cargo hold for the vehicles. The doors opened and Jace and Alyss sat on _Titan_. The others got in Auron's truck and they drove them out of the ship. They pulled them to a stop and Auron poked his head from the window of his truck.

"Me an' them decided we're gonna wait for Raine. You two can go on ahead," He told the two on the motorcycle, "I'm gonna go stop by a grocery store an' get everything I need for a damn big amount o' jerky. Aly, does your mom have a dehydrator?"

Alyss nodded. "Yeah. She doesn't use it, so it's pretty much been buried. I don't even know if she kept it."

Auron _hummed_ a bit. "Well, ask her to dig it out. I'll probably go buy one, then I'll use both to get it all done sooner if she's still got it."

Jace nodded. "Alright. See you guys in a bit."

Jace started _Titan_ once more and Alyss wrapped her arms around his waist like always, kissing him on the back of the neck as well. She clutched tightly and Jace drove down the road away from the airdocks. Jace avoided the streets with heavier traffic, stopping at red lights and immediately accelerating when they turned green. Within thirty minutes, Jace pulled _Titan_ to the side of the road in front of Alyss' home.

Jace shut the engine off and looked behind him. "You still with me, Alyss?"

Alyss nodded. "Barely." She said, taking her helmet off.

Jace laughed as he stepped off his motorcycle. "Just a little further, Kitten."

He took his helmet off and he put it in its case, then he grabbed _Legacy_ from it's case and set it on his back. He grabbed Alyss' helmet and put it in next to his, then he closed them up. Alyss stepped off of _Titan_ and Jace picked her up like he had before, grinning as he looked down at her. She smiled and leaned her head up to kiss him, then he carried her up the slope to the front door.

Alyss reached out and knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened and Lilith smiled at them both. "I take it there's a reason for carrying my cub in your arms?" She asked Jace.

"Really sleepy." Alyss answered with a tired smile.

"You'll wanna hear why, too," Jace grinned and kissed Alyss at the base of one of her ears, "Then I think she might need to sleep for a bit."

Lilith nodded and wrapped her arms around Alyss the best she could in a hug. "I'll look forward to hearing it. And hearing where the ring and bracelet came from."

Alyss hugged back and sighed. "I really don't think I deserve them."

"You know, you really don't need to knock," Lilith told them as she led them into the home, "You can just come in."

Jace set Alyss on her feet and they took their shoes off, and Jace set _Legacy_ next to the door on the other side. The two followed the aging cat Faunus into the living room and they all sat down.

"You know how I always say I want to use my semblance and help people be more confident and happy..." Alyss started, sitting up as straight as she could next to Jace.

Lilith nodded. "I know, dear. And I'm glad you think that way."

"Well... in Calm, we saw Maria and Zarya, the girl that I helped and her mother. And we met Maria's son, Saint. He... was born with only one arm."

"He was?" Lilith asked sadly, "That poor boy... I hope he will be alright."

"That's the thing, mama..." Alyss gave a smile, "I... I-I grew him an arm."

Lilith looked at her strangely, wondering if she heard right. "You _grew_ an arm? Fully?"

"Yes, mom. I really did."

"A-and he has full use of it?"

Alyss nodded again. "And that's why I'm so tired... I was only asleep for... maybe a day or two. I should probably still be asleep, really. I've just been so tired after that..."

"You really grew a boy's arm back..." Lilith smiled as tears filled her eyes, "You are such an angel, Aly."

Alyss shook her head. "I'm really not, though..."

"You are!" Lilith insisted, "I've watched you grow up, I've watched you help so many people with your semblance, and I've watched you take in all of the hate our race gets and just shrug it off... You've done more than I ever have or could hope to do. You are my hero now, cub. You've made me so happy and proud to be your mother."

Alyss smiled as her eyes mirrored her mother's. "I-I never expected to hear that... That I'm your hero..." She wiped at her eyes, "You're still mine. You taught me to be this way."

"You've grown so much since I did, though..." Lilith told her, "A-and the ring and bracelet?"

"Zarya made the bracelet for her," Jace said, letting Alyss take a break from the story, "It says " _Kitty Angel_ ". And the mayor of Calm had the ring made for her for what she did for Saint. She just got them this morning. We heard that apparently everyone in Calm has been calling her a Maiden or an angel."

"I really don't deserve to be called one..." Alyss said quietly.

Lilith stood and stepped over to hug her daughter. "You are my little angel. I'm going to go prepare dinner. It'll be simple, today. Then, you can go rest."

"The others will be here soon," Jace told her, "Auron stayed behind with Raine to wait for her to say bye to her girlfriend."

"I don't remember if I told you about Aulin and Alex or not." Alyss said.

"Who are they?" Lilith asked.

"Alex is my little brother," Jace grinned at saying that, "We found out awhile ago when he joined Aulin's team. They're both orphans, so Aulin said she had nowhere to go. We offered for them both to come with us since my house is Alex's house now and since Aulin is dating Alex. I guess you have two more guests than what you thought."

Lilith smiled and nodded. "I look forward to meeting them." She said and started to leave the room.

"Oh, and I have something to suggest later," Jace told her, "Aly would've, but..."

Lilith giggled. "She just fell asleep."

* * *

"...And then me and Aul got pulled down the bank into the water," Alex grinned as he told Lilith of the fishing trip. Lilith laughed at the story and he continued, "It turned out to be a huge catfish. I pulled it out of the water with my bare hands and we ate really well for the time we were out there."

Alyss yawned and laughed at the memory of it. She had decided, much to her mother's protests, to stay awake until she usually goes to bed. "He's not joking. He really caught a catfish with his hands."

"After getting soaked to the bone," Aulin laughed, "Me and Alex had to sit naked under some covers until Jace dried our underwear off, then we sat half naked while he got the rest of our clothes."

"That sounds so hilarious," Lilith laughed again, '"At least you all had the luxury of not dealing with Grimm."

"Definitely," Auron agreed, "No one brought their weapons but Jace an' Raine. I had my revolvers too, but I always take those with me."

"I can launch ice spikes with my semblance too," Aulin said, "But I'd just rather not fight half naked. Y'know, unless it's pillow fights."

"That sounds like a fun time." Alex said with a grin.

"Hey mom, how do you feel about going to Atlas sometime?" Jace asked Lilith.

Lilith tilted her head a bit and her ears took a look of curiosity. "Atlas? I've been curious, but... I don't know."

"There's this one spot that I really want you to see behind Jace's house in the forest," Alyss said, "It's so beautiful and peaceful and warm... Nothing like anywhere else in the world."

"A warm place on Solitas?" Lilith asked, "That sounds interesting."

"I can give you dad's number," Jace said, "You'll have a place to stay if you decide to go. And you won't have to walk to the place because dad can fit his truck through the path."

Lilith _hummed_. "Sounds like a mini vacation. I would love to try to go. Your father sounds like a great man to meet."

"He really is." Alex said.


	38. Chapter 38: Kittens

**AN: Really late start for me today. I had to help with car problems. Let's get into the chapter.**

 **Chapter Thirty** **Eight**

 **Kittens**

"Hiya, mama!" Heath cheered excitedly as Lilith opened the front door after hearing a knock.

"Oh, Heath!" Lilith smiled and hugged her, noticing the other two behind her, "Sapphire, Zack, it's so good to see you again!" It was a couple of days into JKDW, Alex and Aulin's visit when three members of team SHRA showed up at her doorstep.

"You too, mom," Zack greeted and he and Sapphire hugged her, "Aly told us this would be the best time to visit."

"It'll be good to maybe spend more than a day with you this time." Sapphire said.

"Wait a moment..." Lilith brought her hand up to her shoulder and looked at the young Faunus couple, "Are you two..."

Sapphire and Zack smiled even more than before. "We're mated, mom." Sapphire said happily.

Lilith hugged them both again. "Oh I'm so happy for you two!"

"I didn't know what to say when she asked," Zack said, "I can't wait to tell Aly."

"That is if we can stay." Heath said with a grin as Lilith just smiled.

"Well, my house is booked full, but I believe I can make room." Lilith said and she led them into the house.

They took their shoes off and put them to join everyone else's. Heath grinned wider as she looked at the greatsword that leaned against the wall next to a shortbow. "Well, we know Jace and Raine are here at least." She said with a chuckle.

"As if we didn't already know from the motorcycle and truck sitting outside." Zack replied.

Heath shrugged. "Seein' that stuff was just added assurance that they're here and we're not early or late."

They stepped into the living room and greeted all that were there. "Hey guys, everything going okay?" Sapphire asked, not noticing her old teammate in the room.

"We've been doing great," Jace answered her, "It's been a really fun few weeks," He felt something in his shoulder and and looked to Zack and Sapphire with a nervous smile, "I-I'm happy for you two."

Zack noted the nervousness in his voice and smiled back. "Thanks, Jace."

"How'd it happen?" Raine asked them.

"Well, I took Zack on a date to a little oasis," Sapphire answered her, "It was beautiful and it gave me the perfect setting for me to ask. It was so peaceful and the temperature was so cool."

"That sounds very nice," Lilith said, "Very romantic."

"How's Barrett?" Aulin asked them.

"He's doing just fine," Heath answered with a bright smile, "He's back with his mom right now. I've been spending most of my free time with him."

Aulin nodded and grinned. "Been taking good care of him?"

"She's basically been his little ball of sunshine," Zack told her, "We've been doing all we can to make him feel comfortable on the team. Heath helps the most with that, I think."

"I knew I could count on you, sis." Aulin told Heath and grinned more.

"Scout's honor, remember?" Heath laughed.

"How was Hibana, Deery?" Lilith asked Sapphire.

"Peaceful. It was really nice to relax with Zack at home," Sapphire answered happily, "I'm glad I was able to catch an airship there for a few days and before mom moved."

"There was a bad storm that damaged some buildings on the docks before we got there," Zack added, "I helped more than her so she could have an easier time. Dogs tend to work a bit more than deer."

Sapphire slapped his arm, giggling. "We worked an equal amount. I wouldn't let him work harder and strain himself."

"Did everything get fixed?" Lilith asked them.

"Yeah, it's fixed back up," Zack said, "Then we just relaxed the rest of the time until we had to catch that airship back, then we went to visit Heath and Barrett. That's when we gave each other our Mark. Heath said she heard about an oasis and she and Barrett took us there and watched our backs."

"That sounds so lovely," Lilith sighed, the sound holding nothing but joy for them, "I'm just so happy for you both. I know Aly will be too. It's good to know that everything is okay in Hibana too. How was Vacuo, Sunny?" She asked Heath.

"Better than ever," Heath replied with a smile, "I've been hanging out with Barrett for most of the time. Been tryin' my best to keep his mood up. And I met his mom. She's a sweet lady. Me and Bear just basically spent the whole time laying in bed and watching shows. And going to ice cream shops. That was awesome."

Lilith laughed. "I'm sure it was. You love your sweets, don't you?"

Heath grinned. "You know it, mama."

"It's good that you all had a great time." Jace told them.

"So, where's Aly?" Sapphire asked him

"She's getting some sleep." Jace answred.

"But it's like one in the afternoon!" Heath yelled quietly, "Why is she still asleep?"

"You'll want to finally sit down." Raine told them all.

"Okay..." Zack said and took a seat, pulling Sapphire into his lap. Sapphire leaned back into him as he wrapped his arns around her stomach, "And where's Auron?"

"He is making jerky," Lilith answered him, "He has been at it since he woke up this morning. He even made breakfast."

"Is it the deer jerky?" Sapphire asked and the others nodded, "Awesome. That stuff tastes amazing."

"I still haven't got to try it yet!" Heath complained.

"I still think it's strange for a deer Faunus to like deer jerky." Zack remarked.

"Just traits, Puppy," Sapphire said, flicking one of her ears against his own, "All of you should stop making it sound weird."

"It does sound very strange..." Lilith admitted.

"Dang, I should've had Auron make some at my house," Raine shook her head, "I would love to see mom's reaction."

"Your mom's a deer faunus too?" Sapphire asked.

Raine nodded. "Yeah. She has ears like you."

"What's her name?"

"Nia. Her surname was..." Raine's eyes widened as she looked at Sapphire, "Dahlia... She took dad's last name when she mated with him."

"Nia Dahlia... is my aunt. We haven't really heard from her for a little while. I haven't, at least. Probably because of school," Sapphire shook her head, "We're gonna have to have a talk with her and my mom soon."

"Is your mom Topaz?" Raine asked.

Sapphire nodded slowly. "That's her name. She kept her last name when she mated with dad."

"I can probably call mom," Raine offered, "This is really weird."

"Weirder than me finding out about Alex being my brother?" Jace asked with a grin.

"It's up there," Sapphire said, "How in the world didn't we know about each other like this?"

Raine shrugged. "I dunno... My only guess would be my training. And the fact that we're from different kingdoms."

"So..." Zack looked around at everyone again, "Why is Aly still asleep?"

* * *

Alyss woke up and stretched, not feeling her boyfriend's body against her. She looked around and didn't see him anywhere, guessing that he was already awake.

 _"What am I going to do with you..."_ She wondered in her head, laying flat on her back, _"Better question is... how am I gonna ask?"_

She stood from her bed and found a change of clothes and slipped her bracelet onto her wrist and ring onto her finger, then she walked from her room and down the stairs. She paused when she heard multiple voices coming from the living room, and she smiled as she recognized them.

She stepped through the entryway to the living room where she saw everyone sitting, with three added guests. "Hey guys!"

"Morning, Sleepy Kitty," Jace said, "Mom has more guests."

"I see that," Alyss said and the three stood to hug her, "I'm glad you guys could make it."

"Same here," Sapphire said and she, Zack, and Heath began scritching her ears, causing her to _purr_ blissfully, "We just heard a great story about you."

"Explains why you've slept this late." Zack added.

"You're so awesome, Alyss!" Heath cheered.

"I can only guess what you heard..." Alyss said after everyone backed away from her, "Oh gods, I'm so happy for you two!" She said to Zack and Sapphire, "I didn't know what to think when I walked down the stairs and felt it!"

"Thanks, Aly," Sapphire said, "Zack said he didn't know what to think when I asked."

"There was a lot of sputtering before I kissed her. My mind was just blank." Zack said.

"You'll have to tell me everything later," Alyss smiled, "And why didn't anyone wake me up when they got here?" She asked the others.

"Because you needed the rest," Jace said and she sat next to him, "You need to stay healthy if you wanna help more people and lack of sleep isn't too healthy."

"Hmm..." Alyss yawned and laid her head on his shoulder, "At least I'm feeling less tired now. I'm glad you guys made it." She said to her old team.

"Us too," Heath said, "We get to see you, mom, your team, and I can hopefully finally try the jerky that you guys keep praising."

"You'll get a fair chance to get it," Jace assured her, "Apples are a bit higher in my snack list. I've already had ten and went to buy more."

"And I have cherries." Alyss said.

"We know." Heath, Zack, and Sapphire said at the same time and laughed.

Raine cleared her throat and looked at her scroll. "Mom said she'd call when she got back home from getting groceries."

"Why? What's wrong?" Alyss asked in worry.

"Nothing really _wrong_ , but..." Raine started, not knowing what to say.

Sapphire laughed a bit. "Me and Raine might be... well, we're pretty sure we _are_ cousins."

* * *

"So you and Saph are really mated..." Alyss said with a wide smile as she, Zack, and Heath walked around the commercial and shopping district of Vale. Sapphire stayed back at Alyss' home and she and Raine spoke with Sapphire's mother and Nia over their scrolls. Jace had stayed back to work on a surprise for Alyss. Auron was still working on marinating jerky.

"Yeah, we're really mated." Zack said, smiling still.

"Me and Bear went to watch their backs in that oasis," Heath said, skipping along happily, "Wouldn't do well if Grimm showed up while they marked each other."

"That's true, but..." Alyss blushed and swallowed, "D-didn't you both have to... you know..."

"Be in the heat of passion?" Zack asked quietly and Alyss nodded.

"Honestly, I think that's just a rumor," Zack told her, "I think that if you really, truly love the one you wanna be mated with, then the Mark will stick. You shouldn't have to have sex to be able to mate with someone."

"Hmm..." Alyss looked down as she thought on that.

 _"We wouldn't have to have sex to do it?"_ She asked herself in her head as she bit her lip, _"Well, my time searching the net might've been a waste. I'd trust Zack more than anything I read online. Just... when-"_

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she was yanked to the side. "What was that for?" Alyss asked Zack, staring at him.

"You were really close to walking into a pole." Zack told her.

"I-I was?" Alyss asked in embarrassment.

"Yep," Heath affirmed, "I don't think that would've been too good. Funny, but not too good."

"It would not have been funny!" Alyss said, crossing her arms.

They stepped into a small clothing store and Heath separated from them, exploring around the different clothes isles for anything to catch her eye. Zack stuck with Alyss, looking around with her as the question she asked earlier picked at him.

"What were you thinking about anyway, Aly?" Zack asked her as they looked at different shirts.

"U-umm..." Alyss blushed brightly at the question at a shirt she thought Jace would like. It was black and had a white silhouette of a warrior holding a sword to his side with a single wing sprouting from his back.

"I-I want to be his mate..." She said quietly and picked the shirt up, making sure it was Jace's size.

"That's great!," Zack smiled, "Why are you so nervous about it?"

"Because... I don't know how or when to ask..." Alyss admitted, "I mean... We're all together and hanging out. I don't want to take time away from that..."

"What about next week?" Zack asked, "You're all supposed to be going to your own homes, right?"

"Well, not next week," Alyss said, "We're planning to go to Patch to visit the beach. Would you guys wanna come with us?"

"I don't know, really," Zack said, "I wouldn't mind relaxing on a beach, but I don't know much about Patch and I don't want to deal with _some_ people."

"Yang told us that they're really accepting of Faunus there," Alyss said, "You shouldn't have to worry about people saying something about you and Saph. I wish everyone would just ignore the people that start it..."

"All I can say is that some Faunus have different attitudes about it, y'know," Zack said, "There's sweet and innocent, like you and Saph," He grinned at the small smile on Alyss' face, "And then there's protective and aggressive, like me and Jace. I don't know what Raine would be. Me and Jace know it would be the worst outcome if we started fighting racists when they come after us, but if someone tries to hurt Sapphire or you because of it, we can't hold ourselves back. That's why people like you and Saph are awesome. You keep people like me and Jace in line and you keep us from making huge mistakes like what you guys said could have happened in Atlas."

"I guess so," Alyss replied and folded the shirt over her arm, "It's a balance, I suppose."

"I got some smarts, remember?" Zack grinned, pointing to his ears as they twitched a bit.

Alyds giggled. "Yeah, I remember. And... you said Sapphire took you to an oasis?" She asked, her nervousness returning.

"Yeah. It was great," Zack answered, "You wanna know where it is? I mean, that would be a long way-"

"No, that's okay," Alyss cut him off, "But I'd like to see it someday. I think I have an even better place to go."

Zack's ears perked up a bit. "Okay, that makes me curious. What place are you talking about?"

"It's in Atlas. You'd have to see it to really know what it's like."

* * *

"Another beach trip?" Heath asked with a grin while the three walked back to Alyss' home from the airdocks. She bought a bright-orange sundress in the store, choosing to wear it for the rest of the day, "Oh I'm in!"

"Yeah, I guess I'm in too," Zack relented from his earlier thinking, "I have my sweet and innocent Fawn to keep me in line."

"That's adorable," Alyss giggled at the nickname, "It'll be a fun time if Saph wants to go too."

"I'm gonna have to convince Bear," Heath said, "Think Auron has that jerky made yet?"

"Not a chance." Alyss replied.

"Crap!" Heath exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Heath," Alyss laughed, "You'll get to try it. Just wait another few days."

"A few days!? Heath cried, "Gods why?"

"Because marination, Heath." Zack laughed.

Heath crossed her arms and pouted. "It better be as good as you all say."

They eventually made their way back to Alyss' home and went inside, taking off their shoes at the door. They went into the living room to see everyone sitting there, just conversing with each other over what Raine and Sapphire discussed with Nia.

"So, you two are really cousins?" Zack asked his mate.

Sapphire nodded and made room on the couch for him. "Yep. Mom and aunt Nia confirmed it."

"I never had any idea..." Raine remarked.

"Your dress looks pretty, Sunny." Lilith said to Heath with a smile.

"Thanks, mom." Heath smiled back.

"And I guess you got finished putting the jerky in the things?" Alyss asked Auron, who was sitting tiredly in an extra chair.

"Yeah... It'll take the rest of the day for this first batch," Auron answered her, "Then tomorrow for the last batch. Thank Oum mom found her dehydrator."

"I guess it was for the best when I brought it with me," Lilith said, "I can't wait to try it, Pepper."

"Same here." Heath said, crossing her arms and sitting in a chair.

"What do you have there, Kitten?" Jace asked Alyss as she sat next to him.

"A shirt. I bought it for you." She said and handed it to him.

"You didn't have to do that." Jace said, taking the shirt.

Alyss smiled. "I might not have _had_ to, but I wanted to."

Jace smiled back and kissed her. "Thank you, Alyss."

He unfolded it and checked the design on the front, smiling even more. "It reminds me of that painting at home. I like it. This is gonna be for special occasions."

"I'm happy you like it." Alyss said.

* * *

"Man, watchin' this is seriously fun." Auron said, watching as Heath shined a laser pointer around in the living room the next day. He had his scroll out, taking a video to show to Shyla when he saw her again.

Jace jumped at the light on the floor, clasping his hands at the spot where it was. "I forgot how fun this was when Gen did this." He said and jumped to the next spot where the dot was.

The furniture had been moved around when Heath had brought the laser pointer out earlier. Sapphire had grinned when she had held it up, knowing what was about to happen. She just didn't expect Jace to join in on the fun.

Or Lilith for that matter.

"Oh this is so adorable!" Sapphire squealed, similarly taking a video to keep as a memory.

Jace dove for the dot once more and landed on his hands and knees, then the dot moved to his back and Alyss jumped on top of him. Heath moved the dot once more and Lilith went for it, landing right next to Jace and Alyss.

"This is just so fun!" Lilith cheered as Alyss launched off of Jace's back to go for the dot that was on the couch now where Raine sat, "I can't remember when I had this much fun!"

Jace spun around and stood on his hands and feet, his backside in the air and his tail swaying back and forth. "I didn't think I would be this attracted to a laser dot with how old I am."

Alyss giggled merrily at the sight of him. "You look so funny like that, Jace."

"You do." Lilith agreed and clasped her hands where the dot appeared next to her, pawing around at the spot.

"It feels really nice to let this stuff out," Jace grinned, "I'm glad I can't control myself right now."

Alysd jumped from the couch and landed next to her mother, pawing at the spot with her as Raine laughed. "I wish Vivi was here too. I'd love to see if she goes after a laser dot."

"I kinda wish I was a cat Faunus right now," Aulin said with a smile at seeing the three having so much fun, "I'd like to do this. It looks like so much fun."

"Then I'd get to give you scritches," Alex said and kissed her on the cheek, "I'd love to hear what you purring would sound like."

"That can be taken so many ways." Auron remarked.

"Actually not talking like that this time, Auron." Alex laughed.

Heath glanced over to Zack and saw his floppy dog ears were perked up as much as they could as he followed the dot's movements with his eyes, his leg bouncing up and down over and over. "It looks like Zacky wants to get in on the fun, huh?"

"No." Zack replied shortly.

Sapphire looked at him and giggled as she went to kiss his cheek. "You just don't wanna act like a puppy in front of everyone."

"That's not true." Zack said, crossing his arms as his leg bounced faster and faster.

Auron checked the time on his scroll and sighed. "Be back in a minute. The rest should be done now." He said and stood to leave the room, leaving his scroll in a position to keep taking the video.

Heath grinned and started to move the laser to point at his back. "Heath, I swear to Oum if one o' these kittens pounce on me then you ain't gettin' anymore jerky."

Heath immediately pointed the dot somewhere else. "Didn't plan on it, big guy."

Alyss saw the dot on Jace's side and dove for it, tackling Jace to the ground, putting him on his back and her over his chest. She rose up off of him and giggled. "Sorry sweetie."

Jace grinned and pulled her back down for a short kiss. "You can pounce on me any time, Pretty Kitty."

"Now _that_ can be taken a lot of ways." Heath giggled.

Jace and Alyss got back up and Alyss was blushing now. "Shut it, Heath."

"Don't tell my sis to shut it!" Aulin yelled in faux anger.

Alyss looked at her and stuck her tongue out, and Aulin mirrored her and laughed. Alyss found the dot again and strafed around slowly with her backside in the air, eying the the middle of the floor where the dot was. Jace and Lilith mirrored her in other parts of the floor. Before the three cat Faunus could act on it, Zack couldn't take any more and jumped in, then the dot disappeared.

"Aw. Battery's dead." Heath pouted.

"Seriously!?" Zack yelled and turned toward her, "Oh come on!"

"Aww, poor Puppy," Sapphire laughed, "You should've joined in sooner."

"Wait a sec..." Heath dug around in her pockets for a few moments before her face lit up. She pulled out another battery to fit the laser and replaced the dead one. She pointed it at the floor in front of Sapphire and the dot came back, "Let the fun continue!" She giggled as Zack dove for it.

* * *

Alyss leaned her head into Jace's touch as he gently dug his fingertips into the base of her cat ears, _purring_ happily as her eyes closed in pleasure. Jace had his tail laid in between them and she was petting it and scritching his ears at the same time, causing much deeper _purrs_ to come from him.

"Thank you for making that pie, sweetie. It was amazing." Alyss said. They were in her bed that night, having one of their sessions before they went to sleep.

"You're very welcome. The cherries were a surprise to find, weren't they?" Jace asked with a grin.

"They were an amazing surprise," Alyss smiled, "Gods, it was so fun earlier."

"It really was. I might not have a playful nature like you, but that gets thrown out the window with a laser dot, apparently. I'm just so glad Heath didn't put me into a wall," Jace replied and laughed, "Or make me and Zack crash into each other."

"You came close a few times," Alyss giggled, "I think mom is gonna plan a trip to Atlas in a couple of weeks."

"I'll need to message dad that she might be there," Jace said, "He'll wanna make sure he's not taking a mission and to make sure the house and penthouse are cleaned up."

"She probably won't care."

"Dad does, though. He doesn't want the house to be messy when someone visits."

"I think I'll be there too."

Jace perked up even more at hearing that. "Really?"

Alyss nodded. "I don't wanna be here and be bored the whole time while she's gone. Plus, I wanna see the clearing again before school starts again."

Jace smiled. "That'll just make my time better at home, then."

* * *

"Hey mama... can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Alyss asked her mother the next day.

Lilith tilted her head. The only times Alyss had called her " _mama_ " was when she had something serious to say. "Of course, cub." She said and stood from her seat in the living room, leaving everyone else to converse with each other.

They walked into the kitchen down the hall and sat at the table. "What's wrong, Aly?" Lilith asked, concern in her voice.

"Well, nothing's wrong," Alyss admitted and cleared her throat, "I know I'm young still... but I wanna talk about mating."

Lilith straightened her back. "You do?"

Alyss nodded. "Y-yeah. I know Sapphire and Zack are mated now in the first stage of the Mark. But... I wanna know if I might be too young-"

"Of course not, Alyss," Lilith cut her off, "Right now, you are at the right age in my opinion. All of you are. You don't need to be an adult or older to know for sure who you want to be with. You just need to think and understand your feelings about the person you want to be with, and then _you_ decide when you're ready. Do you feel like you're ready?"

Alyss took her mother's words in and nodded slowly. "I really believe that I'm ready. But..."

"You... don't know about Jace?"

Alyss shook her head. "I dunno... I don't want to force a decision on him, but I just... want to really be his mate. He's so caring and sweet..."

"And loyal and protective," Lilith said softly, "I saw the look in his eyes when we first met, when he said he would protect us. That look said he would do anything to make sure we were safe. To make sure _you_ were."

Alyss smiled. "I love him so much."

"Just so you know, I would be proud to have him as a true part of my family."

"You would?"

"I really would. It may be cheesy to say, but I believe fate put you both together from what happened to us and what happened with his old teammates. I would give anything to see you happy, and I want Jace to be happy after what happened to him as a child."

"I-I was gonna go to Atlas with you when you go," Alyss said, "That clearing... I-I planned on asking Jace there. And if he wants to and he's ready, then I want to give him the Mark there."

Lilith stood from her seat, then bent over to hug her tightly. "Oh, my little cub is growing up. I know things will turn out great for you, sweetheart."

"Thanks, mom," Alyss said and returned the hug, "I can't wait until then."


	39. Chapter 39: Patched In

**Chapter Thirty Nine**

 **Patched In**

"It was so nice to have everyone here," Lilith said with a wide smile as everyone stood outside her home, ready to leave, "I hope you all have a great time on Patch."

"It was really good to meet you, mom," Aulin said, smiling widely, "It feels... really good to say that."

Lilith nodded. "And it was good to meet you, Aul. I still need to think of a nickname for you."

"I can help you with that sometime," Alex offered with a grin, "I have a few that might work. Should it be embarrassing, cute, or just nice?"

Aulin laughed and playfully pushed him. "Let her do it alone, Firefly."

"Oh! How about Chilly?" Lilith asked.

"Because of my semblance?" Aulin asked and the elder cat Faunus nodded, "I like it."

"Why is Alex called Firefly again?" Jace asked.

"From when he explained his fighting style and his shared semblance with you," Lilith answered, "How he uses fire dust to send fire through kicks and sword slashes and he can fly like around like a bird."

"It makes sense." Raine said.

"It was good to see you again, mom," Sapphire said and hugged Lilith, "I'm glad I finally got to tell you about me and Zack."

"And I am so happy for you both." Lilith said and returned the hug.

"Thanks, mom," Zack said, "Besides our own parents, Heath, and Barrett, we wanted you and Aly to be the first to know."

"I'm glad you wanted to tell me," Lilith said, then turned to Auron, "And your deer jerky is amazing, Pepper."

Auron grinned. "You can thank my mom. She taught me a lot."

"And thanks for the bags of it, Auron," Heath said cheerfully, "I'm glad I finally got to try it."

"And I'm glad both o" you like it," Auron replied, "It's why I made a huge batch of it. I knew there'd be a lot o' people here, plus I wanted to leave some for mom."

"And you say you're not the smartest outside of combat." Jace laughed.

Alyss stepped forward from Jace and hugged her mother tightly. "I'll be back next week. Thanks for that talk a couple days ago."

"I'm glad I could help my hero." Lilith said and returned the hug.

"I'll let dad know that you'll be visiting," Jace told her, "You can probably meet my other brother and his girlfriend too. Don't believe half of what Gen says about me."

Lilith laughed as she gave him a hug. "I'll keep that in mind, cub."

Lilith made rounds to give everyone goodbye hugs and everyone said their goodbyes. "Bye mom. See you next week." Alyss said, waving at her.

"Until then, dear," Lilith said and turned to Jace, "I look forward to visiting Atlas. See you then, Jace."

"You too, mom." Jace replied with a smile.

Everyone left the house as Lilith went inside, shutting the door behind her. Jace and Alyss retrieved their helmets and Jace put _Legacy_ in its case, then the two hopped on and put their helmets on. Auron and the others got in his truck, with the three members of SHRA in the bed, and they drove their vehicles down the streets toward the airdocks. As they had every time before, they had found out which large airship would be going where they were going at the time they left one of their homes. Then they made sure _Titan_ and Auron's truck would be allowed to be stored in the cargo hold and paid for the flight.

They reached the airdocks and Sapphire, Zack, and Heath jumped from the back of the truck. "We're gonna catch our flight back to Vacuo," Sapphire said to everyone, "I'm waiting to buy a bikini until I get to Patch. We'll bring Barrett."

"I'll carry him over my shoulders if I have to." Heath laughed.

Aulin grinned at her. "That would be great to see. Seeya in a few days.,

"Later, sis. Bye guys." Heath said and she and the other two went back to Jace and Alyss.

Alyss stepped off of _Titan_ and they all had a group hug. "See you guys soon. This is gonna be so relaxing."

"Let's see if we can have like a bonfire on the beach or something," Zack suggested, "That would be a good way to end it."

"That sounds awesome," Jace grinned, "Maybe this time I won't have to dry people's clothes off."

"We just all have to remember to watch our ears." Sapphire said with a grin.

"That bandanna helped a lot." Zack remarked.

"Well, we'd better not miss our flights," Sapphire said, "See you in a few days."

"Bye guys." Alyss said and the three left for their airship.

Alyss sat back down behind Jace as Auron returned from meeting with their airship's captain. He got back in his truck and led Jace inside the airship's cargo hold, then they all went to sit inside near the windows.

"So, who's up for a bonfire if we can have one on the beach?" Jace asked the others.

* * *

"It's more quiet here than what I thought it would be." Jace remarked after he and Auron parked their vehicles off of the airdocks.

"Not like Vale," Raine said, "It's like Calm."

"What are the plans right now?" Aulin asked.

"You guys can go look around town," Alyss told them all, "It's time for Jace's maintenance."

"Is it?" Jace asked and she nodded, "Good thing I have you to keep track. I'll try to remember next week."

"We'll meet up with you guys later," Raine said to Jace and Alyss, "We can all just explore on our own until then."

"Sounds good to me," Alex agreed, "Where do you wanna go first, Aul?"

"Hell if I know," Aulin said and took his hand, leading him away, "But that's what exploring is for!"

"Good that I compensated for comin' here too," Auron said after a moment, "For if we see Yang an' Ruby."

"You _are_ smarter than what you give yourself credit for," Raine said with a smile, "I'm gonna go wait for Vivi to get here. She said she just missed us and she took the next flight over."

"Yeah, I'll be waitin' for Shy too," Auron said, "She might be a bit later though."

"Alright. See you at the inn." Alyss told them both and they all separated.

Alyss and Jace walked down the docks with their bags in hand, trying to find a good spot for Alyss to work with Jace's arm. Eventually, they found an unoccupied spot under a wooden gazebo near the water. Jace leaned _Legacy_ against a post and they sat side by side at one of the few tables and set their bags down and Jace set the case containing his _AGR_ next to them. Jace dug through his bag that solely had maintenance items for his prosthetic and he pulled out everything Alyss needed. Oil, a rag, some cotton swabs, his screwdriver, and a small container to put screws in.

Jace laid his prosthetic on the table and Alyss took the screwdriver. She quickly opened the panel where the prosthetic's switch hid under and she shut it off, making Jace gasp and lose all feeling in it.

"Gods, I'm never gonna get used to that." He remarked.

"At least you don't feel any pain, right?" Alyss asked and opened up all the panels to the joints.

Jace shook his head. "Thankfully not-"

"Jace!" Alyss!"

The two cat Faunus looked up from the metal arm and found the source of the call. They saw the entirety of team RWBY walking along the sidewalk, waving as they caught sight of them. They noticed first hand that Blake didn't have her bow on. There were also two more Faunus. One was a female as tall as Blake, tanned and wearing a black and white dress with small golden designs. She had short black hair in a bob cut and her eyes were amber, and she had piercings in her cat ears. The other was a huge man who looked to be taller than Auron, and definitely more burly. He wore a blue outfit of pants and an overcoat with white fur along the collar of it, which was open and showing a large area of black chest hair. He had no Faunus trait visible, unless his hair and size were his trait.

Jace and Alyss waved back at them and the four members of the team came over after Blake hugged the two other Faunus and they walked on, with Blake and Ruby holding hands. "Oh gods you got your ears pierced!" Yang laughed, "What got you to do that?"

"Alyss wanted to but she was being a scaredy cat," Jace grinned, "I did it to make her more comfortable with it."

"It looks nice. 'Specially the little pendant on your ear, Alyss."

"Thank you, Yang." Alyss smiled.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ruby asked them.

"We all decided to come here for a few days to go to the beach," Jace answered her, "Auron, Raine, Alex, and Aulin are exploring the town right now. If you see Auron, he has jerky for you from when he made a lot at Aly's home."

"Is there something wrong with your arm?" Weiss asked him and they all sat down across from them.

Alyss shook her head. "Just maintenance. How are all of you doing?"

"We're good," Yang answered her, "A couple more than others."

"We see that," Jace remarked at seeing the happy smiles on Blake and Ruby's faces, "We won't pry with your relationship, which we're happy for, but who were those two people?"

"M-my parents." Blake answered, still emotional from their meeting.

"Parents?" Jace tilted his head, "I thought that..."

"When I left... I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have and I regretted it and thought they hated me," Blake said and gave a smaller smile, "I thought they wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore after I basically ran from home. But... Ruby convinced me to at least write a letter to them and I told them where I was going to be for the summer. If it wasn't for Ruby... I don't know if I would've saw them again. Not for a long time, at least."

"I'm glad you're together again," Alyss said with a smile, "And I'm happy you decided to let your ears be free."

"Ruby convinced her to do that too," Yang said, looking over to her sister, "It was maybe a week ago, then they started dating. She only lets Ruby touch them too. Been that way for awhile now. The purrs are awesome and relaxin'."

'Yang!" Blake yelled, blushing.

"You know you don't have to be embarrassed," Ruby smiled at her, "You just need to get used to it still."

"Do you think that's what Nora meant when she said she heard us purr from all the way in JNPR's dorm?" Alyss asked Jace, "She could have been hearing Blake instead."

Blake stiffened up. "Do I really get that loud?"

Yang shrugged. "Kinda. But it was too adorable to tell you to keep them quieter."

"Are you gonna keep them like that?" Jace asked Blake.

"I'm... going to try to," Blake answered him, "I'll try to let more of my cat side out too, like the purring and letting Ruby rub them. I'm tired of hiding that from racists."

Alyss grinned as she dipped a cotton swab in oil and ran it along the insides of the prosthetic's joints. "If you have someone as sweet and innocent as Ruby with you, then you can deal with any one of them. Right, Jace?"

Jace nodded. "Exactly."

"Zack told me that," Alyss said, "Sweet and innocent people like me and Sapphire keep protective and aggressive people like Jace and Zack in line."

"When we were in Atlas, we had to deal with a couple in a weapon exhibit," Jace started as Alyss turned his arm to get everywhere along his wrist, "They said a bunch of stuff that made me mad. She kept me from putting their heads through the glass."

"Umm..." Yang looked at them both, "What did they-"

"Heat cycles," Jace replied, "They kept saying if we all got them or not."

"Which we don't, by the way. Not all of us," Alyss said to the three humans of the group, "It's extremely rare for a Faunus to have them."

Blake narrowed her eyes. "You're joking... That has to be the worst case of racism I've heard of, and I've heard the things Cardin said before."

"They kept going on about it until they wondered if me and Alyss fucked a lot, if you'll excuse my language," Jace said, "I snapped and yelled at them. If it wasn't for Aly, then I would've made a huge mistake."

"How is it a mistake to shut racists up?" Yang asked.

"I would've damaged a really cool exhibit." Jace replied.

"That sounds like it sucked," Ruby said, "But at least you didn't do anything bad, right?"

"Right," Jace said, "Plus I got to see a really awesome ultra greatsword. I wish mine could be considered that."

"Lean forward." Alyss told Jace and he complied, laying his chin on his arm on the table as she turned his prosthetic over to get the other side of the elbow.

"Oh wow, Jace," Yang smirked, "Didn't know you were so submissive."

"Yang!" Weiss smacked her arm, "Quit that!"

Jace laughed at that. "I'm the most submissive person when it comes to Aly taking care of my arm. So you can bite me."

Alyss leaned her head over and nibbled his neck a bit. "My job, sweetie." She giggled and returned to her work.

Jace laughed again. "Yeah, that's your job only."

"Damn." Yang sighed and Weiss smacked her arm again, laughing a bit. Yang grinned and put her arm around the heiress' shoulders.

"So, why haven't you been talking much, Weiss?" Jace asked the heiress.

"I..." Weiss started hesitantly, "I'm still getting my mind in order from meeting Blake's father."

"He's the chieftain of Menagerie." Blake told them.

"Your dad's the chieftain?" Jace asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and he chewed Weiss out when he recognized her," Yang said, her smile dropping as she squeezed Weis tighter to her, "I was getting really mad. I dunno if anyone noticed my eyes turning red or not. But Blake and her mom smoothed things over with him and he's giving her a chance."

"I don't guess having your father really helped, did it?" Jace asked Weiss.

"It really didn't," Weiss sighed, "Ghira's first words to me were " _How can a Schnee be a part of the same team as my daughter?_ " I hate the reputation my father has given our name. I wish I could start over with Kali and Ghira with a clean slate. With everything my father has done, it makes it difficult for me to talk to many Faunus. Damn _him_..." She finished bitterly.

"At least you're working past that," Alyss offered, "We all know you're not like your father. And Faunus like my mom's former mate don't help at all."

"And probably me if Alyss didn't keep me calm around certain people." Jace said.

"No, you would be nowhere close to him even if you got aggressive," Alyss told him, "You only get aggressive to protect who you love. You're nothing like my father, Jace."

Jace looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah... I'm never doing anything as bad as he ever did. I still want to break his hands and fingers for..." Jace shook his head, "Never mind. I'm just always gonna let you keep me calm."

"Just try to forget about him," Alyss told him, "I'm trying to."

"Yeah. I'll try."

"I dunno if it's the right time to ask..." Ruby started, looking down, "but... you never really told us why you transferred over. I mean, It's alright if you still don't-"

"It's fine, Ruby," Alyss assured her, "We moved to Vale because we didn't feel safe. My father tried to cut our ears off and he was probably gonna kill us."

"He did what?" Blake visibly recoiled and cringed at what she said, her ears folding back, "H-he tried to..." She couldn't even repeat what was said, "I'm glad you two got away from him."

"Animal ears are so cute though... Why would someone try to do something like that?" Ruby asked, looking up to Blake's ears, "No Faunus deserves that."

"No, they..."Jace shook his head, " _We_ really don't."

"At least you and your mom got away like Blake said," Yang said uncomfortably to Alyss as she crossed her arms over her chest, "That's just... Damn..."

"Is he still in Vacuo?" Weiss asked, "I don't know if it would help, but I could call the SDC representatives there and let them-"

"It's alright, Weiss," Alyss assured her with a smile, "Mom got a call saying he was caught and put in jail. No one has to worry about him."

Weiss nodded. "Still, I believe he deserves worse for trying to maim and murder you and your mother."

"I... could've probably done without _those_ words to describe it..." Alyss said.

Weiss looked down. "Sorry."

"It's okay. He's in jail and we won't ever see him again. We don't have to worry."

As Alyss continued oiling Jace's joints with the cotton swabs, Ruby caught sight of the large case next to the table. "What's in that case? I know it isn't _Legacy_ because it's leaning right there and it's smaller than what _Legacy_ is."

Jace gave a wide grin. "Grab it, open it, and see for yourself."

Yang shrugged, immediately turning away from the previous topic. "Well, he said to." She said and grabbed the case, setting it on the table between them.

"This is one of those Atlesian weapon cases, right?" Ruby asked.

Jace nodded. "Yep. Press the blue, green, red, and purple buttons in that order."

Ruby immediately hit the combination and the buttons lit up with their respective colors. The top of the case came up a bit from the rest of it and it split longways in the middle, then retracted to both sides. Ruby stared at the weapon wide-eyed in complete disbelief.

"How in the world do you have one of these!?" She screamed the question.

"Ruby, keep your voice down," Blake said, beginning to rub her cat ears, "My bow isn't on. It can't muffle sounds if it doesn't cover my ears."

"Sorry Blake!" Ruby apologized quickly, "Jace, how do you have an _AGR_?" She asked more quietly.

"All of them were stolen on that train almost two years ago," Weiss remarked, "Fifteen of these were made and they're extremely rare."

"I saw that on the news," Yang remarked, "White Fang hit it."

Blake immediately looked away from the weapon and the other cat Faunus at the table. "What's wrong, Blake?" Jace asked her.

"I-I..." Blake swallowed a lump in her throat and felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Ruby looking at her encouragingly, and she saw the same looks from Yang and Weiss.

"Is something wrong?" Alyss asked in concern, taking her focus from Jace's arm for a few moments.

Blake shook her head. "W-we hit that train..."

"What do you mean by _we_?" Jace asked in confusion, "Do you mean that you..."

"I used to be with them..." Blake answered him quietly, "I was a member back when they were peaceful. Their violence built and grew so much and when my old friend and mentor grew more unstable... and when he and I hit that train... I separated the train cars we were on and I left him behind. My father used to be the leader... and I called him a coward when he stepped down. I called him that because I thought he was weak and he didn't have the courage to fight... then I left for Vale with the person I thought I loved. What do you two think?" Blake asked the two Faunus across from her, and everyone eyed them both.

"Well... the past is the past," Alyss said, "You can't change it. Knowing all of that doesn't change what I think of you, Blake. I still think of you as my friend."

"So do I," Jace said with a smile as Alyss returned to his maintenance, "After my team and Aulin's team, you were the first one I wanted to tell about what happened to me. You accepted me given my past and how I am, because I didn't want to lie to any Faunus about my race if I could help it. You all know I should be human. You left the Fang when you realized how bad they got, and you're fighting on the side of everyone. It's like what Alyss told me a lot when I dealt with losing my arm. You're still you and you're _just_ you. Thank you for trusting us, Blake."

Blake let out a huge sigh of relief, letting her shoulders relax. "Thank you both so much..."

"No problem." Jace said.

"It's good that we got that out of the way," Ruby said and kissed Blake's cheek, "Another step forward, Blake."

Blake smiled. "Thanks, Ruby."

"Now that we got that outta the way," Yang said, her expression lightening, "How'd you get the _AGR_?"

Jace sighed. "Dad got it when we were up in Atlas. His old teammate had both it and a _TBR_..."

* * *

"How would this look on me?"

Alex looked at the midnight-purple bikini top and grinned. "Pretty good. Maybe you should go try it on."

Aulin snickered. "Alright. Be back in a minute."

Aulin left for the changing room of the clothes store and Alex chuckled to himself. "Man, what did I do to get someone like you..." He said quietly.

Maybe his arm being broken was a good start.

"Thanks, Armaddon." He laughed a bit and sat down on a bench, leaning against the back of it, closing his eyes.

"Excuse me... but what are you thanking an Armaddon for?"

Alex jumped a bit and looked to the right, seeing an older cat Faunus woman regarding him curiously, standing just in front of a taller and burly man. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there," Alex said in embarrassment, "I was just thinking about some things that happened awhile ago. Me, my team, and my brother's team dealt with one on our first mission and it broke my arm when it exploded."

The woman tilted her head. "And... you're thanking it for that?"

Alex shrugged. "If it wasn't for that, then it probably would've taken me a lot longer to say I loved my teammate, and it would've taken it that long to start dating her."

"And your arm being broken just pushed you to say it?" The woman asked, a bit of mirth in her voice.

"Well, it pushed her to tell me she loved me, and then I told her I loved her. That... was a really up and down mission. More down, really."

"Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Oh, go ahead. I don't mind." Alex said and the woman sat down, and the man stood right by her.

The woman gave a short sigh. "I've been doing so much walking today. My name is Kali, by the way. And this is my mate, Ghira."

Alex smiled. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Alex."

Kali cleared her throat. "I want to ask... do you-"

"Alright, Alex! How's it look?"

Aulin returned then, inadvertently cutting Kali off. She was wearing the bikini top, which was tight against her breasts. Alex grinned. "Looks as great as I thought it would."

Aulin grinned. "Thanks. So, who's your new friends?"

"You interrupted my mate." Ghira said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Ghira, calm down," Kali reached up and laid her hand on his arm, "It's fine. She probably didn't see us before she spoke."

Ghira sighed. "Right..."

"Sorry if I did interrupt you, ma'am." Aulin apologized.

"It's fine. I believe you look nice too." Kali smiled.

Aulin grinned. "Thank you. I'm Aulin."

"We're Kali and Ghira Belladonna. Nice to meet you both."

"Wait... Belladonna?" Aulin asked in shock.

"Yes, that is our last name," Ghira affirmed, "Is there something the matter?"

"Does that mean that you're Blake's parents?" Alex asked them, "Blake Belladonna?"

"Yes, we are," Kali answered, "You know her?"

"The same Blake Belladonna that wore a bow on her head every day in Beacon... Yeah..." Alex said nervously, "I guess she's Faunus, and she kept ears under that bow..."

"W-we know her," Aulin said, crossing her arms nervously and a bit uncomfortably, "I never knew she was a Faunus. Wouldn't have changed anything, though. She was one of my first friends at Beacon. I'm an orphan and she said she kinda knew what it felt like since... since you guys probably didn't care about her anymore after something happened between you..."

"She said that?" Ghira asked, his mask of indifference being broken with a sad sound.

"Y-yeah..." Aulin said quietly, looking down from them.

"We could never stop caring about her... She's our daughter," Kali said, matchingboth Aulin and Ghira's tone, "When she sent us a letter, we we're so relieved that she was safe and okay. We came here when we knew she would be here so we could see her again..."

"We won't pry and ask about what happened back then," Aulin said, "What matters right now is that you guys reconnected."

"What were you gonna ask me a minute ago?" Alex asked Kali, "I mean... I don't want you guys to talk about that with strangers if it makes you uncomfortable. And it's really not our business."

"I-it's okay, Alex," Kali said, "And thank you for your consideration. And I'm sure Ghira appreciates you both being so friendly to us Faunus."

"You're people like anyone else. You just have more to you," Alex replied, "And you're nice. I like being nice to people that are nice to me."

"You both set good examples for humans, then," Ghira said, "Unlike the Schnees..."

"Dear, we talked about that," Kali told him, "Not all the Schnees are like the old fool at the head of the SDC. I saw that in Weiss' expressions and her eyes."

"She warmed up a lot since the beginning of school in Beacon." Aulin said.

Ghira grunted. "She just better not do anything to harm our daughter."

Kali sighed in good nature. "Anyway... we wanted to know if you knew the two Faunus Blake and her team stopped to talk to. One has a prosthetic arm."

"Oh," Alex grinned, "That's my brother and his girlfriend. Jace Reznor and Alyss Wystar."

"Umm... Did you say " _brother_ "?" Kali asked.

"Yeah," Alex replied, then he remembered why that would seem strange, "Oh I really don't want to say this... but I don't want you to be confused from me saying he's my brother. Jace had... really bad things happen to him a a kid..."

* * *

Auron and Raine leaned against the former's truck, chewing around on their jerky as they waited for the next airship to land.

"You really made a lot of this." Raine remarked.

"Like I said. I just compensated for were we were goin'." Auron replied.

"And probably for the rest of the break."

Auron shrugged. "If y'all moderate it. Still ain't got Shy to try any. I dunno if Vivi ever has either."

Raine looked up at something in the distance. "Well, we're about to see about Vivi."

After a few minutes of waiting, the airship landed and opened its doors. It was smaller than most, and it beared the sigil of the Rangers on the side. "When you said she told you she took the next flight out, I didn't expect it would be a Ranger airship." Auron remarked.

"Neither did I," Raine replied, "She said she had special cargo for someone. I don't know what that means."

"I wonder what-" Auron stopped speaking when he saw the first person out of the airship, her brown, blonde-tipped hair like it always was, "I think I just found out."

Auron walked forward and met Shyla halfway, wrapping her in a hug and lifting her up some as she hugged back. "Hi Auron. Good to see you."

"You too, Shy," Auron smiled and kissed her on the forehead, "I didn't expect you to be here this soon."

"You're welcome, Auron," Vivi said beside them as she and Raine met and hugged, "This one decided to go fetch her so she could get here quicker. She knows you two are dating now."

"Smart thinking, Big Kitty," Raine grinned, "Have you ever tried any of Auron's jerky?"

Vivi tilted her head. "I don't think I have."

"Alright," Raine took her arms from her and held her bag of it out for her, "Take a piece."

"You too, Shyla." Auron said and opened his bag.

Shyla and Vivi took pieces of it from their respective lover's bags and Vivi almost let out a _mewl_. "This smells amazing."

Raine laughed. "Just stick it in your mouth already. It tastes as good as it smells."

The two arrivals stuck the jerky in their mouths and chewed around on it, and both of them had different reactions.

"Oh Oum this is the best thing this one has tasted in awhile." Vivi said, chewing much more slowly than she initially did.

"Why haven't I tasted this sooner, Auron?" Shyla asked the gunslinger, "This is freaking amazing!"

"One reason would be because o' classes," Auron replied, "By the time I saw you again, it was all gone 'cause none of us know how to moderate, even though I keep preachin'about it."

"So, shall we go to the inn?" Raine asked everyone, "Or go find the rest of the group?"

* * *

"The bourbon was pretty great..." Jace finished with a short sigh and wiped tears from his eyes as Ruby looked over his _AGR_.

"And you got this after your dad's teammate passed?" Yang asked softly, pointing to the weapon.

"Yeah. Johnny knew how much I've wanted one and how much Gen wanted a _TBR_. I don't know how he got them."

Alyss covered all the joints in the prosthetic back up and switched it back on. "It was an honor to be included in that. It makes me glad that Haile thought of us all as a part of his family."

Weiss gave a smile. "A family closer than mine and none of you are related to Haile by blood... I can understand why he stopped accepting jobs from my father."

"Didn't you say you were close to your sister?" Blake asked her.

Weiss nodded. "She _is_ the only member of my family that I'm close to. The next closest would be one of the manor's butlers, Klein."

"Did you name it?" Ruby asked Jace in regards to the weapon she inspected, "I mean, you don't really _have_ to give it a name, but it's pretty unique since it's one of the only few made. Unique things should have names."

Jace nodded. "I'm calling it _Siege Breaker_. Since they were showed at that convention a few years ago, I've thought of names for it and that one just stuck."

"Fitting." Blake remarked with a small grin.

Ruby gently laid _Siege Breaker_ back in the case and closed it up. "Oh man. I never thought I would hold one of those."

Jace grinned. "I like _Legacy_ better."

Alyss started putting oil onto his prosthetic and rubbed it thoroughly with the rag. "He's been lugging that around everywhere just to show it to you."

Jace closed his eyes in pleasure at the way Alyss rubbed the oil on his arm. "This always feels so awesome. Kinda feels like a massage."

"It's clear that you enjoy it because you're purring a bit." Blake noted.

"And it's cute." Ruby added.

"We missing anything!?" Aulin called from the sidewalk, still wearing that bikini top.

"Not much!" Jace called back, noticing Blake's parents with them.

The four walked up to them all and sat down near them. "So Blake, we met your parents." Alex said.

Blake nodded. "I see that. How did that happen?"

"I asked Alex why he was thanking an Armaddon of all things." Kali replied with a smile to her.

Blake smiled back. "These are my parents. Kali and Ghira," She introduced them to Jace and Alyss, "And mom, dad, these two are-"

"Jace Reznor and Alyss Wystar," Kali interrupted, "Alex told us about you both."

"Did he tell you about my childhood?" Jace asked and both of them nodded.

"He did," Ghira said, "It is disturbing to think that people would do that."

"And... what do you think about me?"

"You are a strange person, considering you're meant to be human," Ghira said, "And considering you have dust inside you."

"But we don't mind that much that you are what you are." Kali said.

"He was Faunus when I met him," Alyss said, "And even after learning about what happened, he's still a Faunus to me. He says I make him feel normal."

"You just said that so I wouldn't say it again." Jace said.

"Because you've said it a lot, sweetie." Alyss laughed.

"Whatever the case, I don't know if I'll be able to see you as a Faunus," Ghira said, "But you seem alright."

"Thank you both for accepting it." Jace said.

"Blake, did you tell them?" Kali asked her daughter.

Blake nodded. "I did, and they accept me for it."

"Thank you both too," Kali said to Jace and Alyss, then she turned back to Blake, "We also told Alex and Aulin about it too. Trading one uncomfortable story for another, I suppose."

"And we still think of you the same way," Aulin assured Blake, "I never had any idea that you were Faunus, but you're still my friend. And everything with _them_ , it doesn't change anything. You fought for what you thought was right and followed your heart when it was going wrong. Can't fault you for that."

"And besides," Alex started with a small smile, "If we had any problems with a bad past, then I doubt we'd be as close as we are to Jace. And if we had any problems with Faunus in general, then I wouldn't want anything to do with Jace. But he's my brother and you're my friend. You both came out of your pasts for the better."

Blake smiled. "Thank you both."

"I believe our cub has found a great group of friends," Kali said after a few moments, "And what I hope to be a great girlfriend."

"I'll do my best to be the best girlfriend to her, ma'am!" Ruby said, emphasizing her point with a salute.

Kali laughed. "Just call me Kali, dear. What do you think, Ghira?" She asked her mate.

Ghira shurgged. "Most of them seem good. One still has a lot to prove, considering her family..."

He looked to Weiss and she looked down away from him. Ghira sighed. "Promise me you will watch her back... Weiss."

Weiss looked back up and nodded. "I-I will, sir. My father's influence doesn't hold me. I would like to consider Blake as my first Faunus friend."

Ghira nodded sternly as Kali giggled. "He's already come a long way from just calling you by your last name." She said to Weiss.

"Can I ask you a favor, sir?" Jace asked Ghira.

"What is it?" Ghira asked.

"If you ever see a Stalker, bash its stupid skull for me."

Ghira laughed at the request. "I'll keep that in mind. Your brother said how you lost your arm as well. As a fighter, I respect your spirit."

Jace smiled. "Thank you. Did he tell you I have feeling throughout the prosthetic?"

"He did," Kali replied, "I can tell you enjoy having your arm rubbed like that because of the purring."

"It's the highlight of all the maintenance days." Jace said with a wider smile as Alyss kissed his cheek, then she turned her eyes to the street.

"Oh look. More people for you to explain things to, Blake." Alyss grinned as she saw Auron, Shyla, Raine, and Vivi walking toward them.

"Now you know a bit of how I feel," Jace said with a grin, "Y'know, from all the times I've explained my prosthetic and the dust and Faunus traits."

Blake groaned. "I don't look forward to it at all.

"Oh," Kali grinned a bit as she saw the top of Vivi's head and what was swaying behind her, "Another cat Faunus. So many ears here."

"And two tails." Alyss added.

"Two?" Kali asked.

Jace moved his from where it laid on the seat next to him. "Me and Vivi are special."

"I was not told that you had both traits." Kali remarked.

Alex shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "I guess that part slipped my mind. It was pretty uncomfortable to say all of that."

Jace laughed. "And that's why I'm tired of explaining it all. Have fun, Blake."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: Okay, I know that there's no mating like what I've been using that l OmegaInfinity l came up with, but it's still a cute idea to use in an AU because that's what it is, alternate. I thought I had to say that here because of Kali and Ghira showing up and because RT kept it simple with relationships and marriage.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you next time, and have a nice day!**


	40. Chapter 40: Beach Day!

**AN: Happy New Years! I hope everyone has a great year and you knock your resolutions out of the park if you have them. Good luck and be safe.**

 **Chapter Forty**

 **Beach Day!**

"What are you gonna do about your arm?" Auron asked Jace as team JKDW, Alex, and Aulin made their way to Ruby and Yang's home, led by Yang and Weiss.

"What, for when we go to the beach in a couple days?" Jace asked back.

"Yeah. Sand can't be good for the joints."

"Honestly, I'm more worried about my ears."

"Kitty's afraid of getting his ears dirty." Aulin snickered.

"You grow cat ears and get sand in them and see how you like it," Jace retorted, "I mean... I've never been to a beach, but... I already know it's gonna suck."

"So you don't even know what it's like and you're complaining?" Alex asked.

"I'm not looking forward to finding out is my point." Jace replied.

"I'll probably put my bow around mine," Alyss said, "I need to ask Blake how exactly to do that, though."

"She can do it in like, five seconds," Yang told her, "She started keepin' it off her ears when we're in our dorm. We all convinced her to at least do that at least. And when someone knocked on the door, I saw her put that thing on really fast."

"Good to know," Alyss said, "I don't wanna have to spend forever trying to get my ears protected."

"Does Blake happen to have any more bows?" Raine asked, "I'm asking for Vivi, but I'm sure she prepared."

"I believe she has one for... every day of the week." Weiss answered her.

"One for every day?" Auron asked, "Ain't that a bit much?"

"I can understand why she would," Weiss said, "Her bows are magnificently crafted. They're all extremely soft to the touch and strong."

"Oh, I've never felt one of her bows," Alyss said, "I bet they're softer than mine considering where she came from."

Yang laughed. "Shoulda figured Blake was a princess. They always have something for every day of the week. And since Blake is the daughter of Menagerie's chieftan..."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Oh stop it, Yang."

"Kinda makes sense now that I think about it." Jace laughed.

"Either way," Raine said, cutting into the topic with a grin, "I need something for my ears too. One of her bows might not be enough considering I'm the only fox Faunus here." She said, running a finger along the length of one of her ears.

"Well, at least your ears aren't the size of Seras'," Jace said, "They'd be even harder to cover."

"And who's Seras?" Yang asked.

"The one that pierced our ears. She takes after a fennec fox. Really long ears."

"Maybe two bows," Alyss suggested, "One for each ear."

Raine shrugged. "I'll think of something."

"Where's your girlfriends at, you two?" Yang asked, turning around to look at Raine and Auron as she walked backward.

"They're hangin' back to wait on SHRA," Auron told them, "They'll take 'em an' get 'em all settled at the inn."

"What about Ruby and Blake?" Aulin asked.

"With Kali and Ghira," Weiss said, "Blake wants to catch up more before they leave and Ruby wants to get to know them both more."

"Why aren't you trying to get to know them right now too?"

"Because I don't think I should right now," Weiss answered her, "Blake just reconnected with them and Ruby is her girlfriend. They both need to talk to them more than I do and I don't feel I should be around Ghira for that, considering he's still wary of me."

"I guess that makes sense," Jace said, "I'm glad Blake reconnected with them."

"Anyone notice how Blake's been smilin' more?" Yang asked and turned back around to walk forward, "She's more happy right now than she's been in a long time. She told us that after you all went to the inn for food. A little more than a month ago, she told us how she thought her mom and dad hated her for helping to ruin everything her dad tried to do with the Fang. Ruby got her to write that letter, and now..."

"Blake is just far more happy," Weiss continued, "It's like she had a weight lifted from her shoulders and she's at peace."

"Sounds like it's because of Ruby." Alex remarked.

"Just her energy made me smile when I first came to Vale," Alyss said, "I was feeling so sad about leaving Sapphire, Zack, and Heath behind and I hated the reason behind it. Just seeing Ruby so excited to meet a new person and help me find my way around made me happy."

"That's my lil' sis for ya," Yang smiled, "Always tries to brighten someone's day when they feel bad."

"She was raised pretty well, it seems like." Auron said.

Yang smiled a bit more at hearing that. "I'd like to think so."

Soon, they arrived at Yang's home and stood just outside the door. Yang opened it and led them inside to the living room. "Dad! Where are you!?" She called out.

"Yang!? I thought you would be out in town, still!" Her father called back, then he entered the living room from the kitchen with a small dog at his heels.

He cocked an eyebrow. "You uh... didn't just bring back more boyfriends and girlfriends, did ya?"

Yang laughed. "Nah, only one's got my eye an' that's Weissy here."

"Good," Her father laughed, "Good to meet you kids. I'm TaiYang. Just call me Tai."

* * *

"...Do you have a sleeve or anything you can put over it?"

"Nope. I didn't think about that or I would've asked you in Calm."

Hayley sighed. "Well, sand can be really bad for getting in the joints. It'll kinda grate at the insides if it gets in and it isn't taken care off. Just oiling it won't fix it."

"So... should I stay off the beach?"

"Well, I'd normally say yes, but just go and have some fun today because you all need it after your year. I'll get a flight over there as soon as I can. I'll bring my tools and a spare arm and I can clean it in two hours. Just know that you'll be paying me for this visit."

"Got it. Thanks, Hayley."

"No problem. See you probably tomorrow."

"I'll at least wear a glove," Jace told her lastly, "See you later."

Jace waited for a short moment before he ended the call, then he put his scroll in the pocket of his shorts. He reached into the back seat of Auron's truck and found his bag, then he dug around in it and found a pair of gloves and his book that he had yet to finish reading, _Soldiers of the Wasteland_. He took the left glove and slipped it over his prosthetic hand, then he grabbed _Legacy_ and held it over his shoulder. He took his book and walked through the sand, his bare feet making their imprints with each step. He only wore a pair of dark-red shorts, leaving the rest of his body free of clothes.

Alyss was sitting in a lawn chair under a parasol, wearing a bright-purple bikini, the sight making Jace grin widely. She also had her purple bow covering her ears, letting her ash-blonge hair be free. He arrived and stabbed his blade into the sand next to _Soul Leaf_ and _Last Call_. Auron's gun belt with _Smoke & Preacher_ was wrapped around _Last Call's_ hilt, along with his hat on top. Said gunslinger wore a pair of black shorts and a red tank top and he was sitting under the same parasol in the other chair, with Shyla in his lap. She wore just wore a white one piece swimsuit.

"I guess you're allowed to be on the beach with us?" Alyss asked and scooted over enough for him to sit next to her.

"Yeah. Hayley said she'll try to be here tomorrow for maintenance," Jace said, "Because sand."

"Here ya go, Jace," Auron said and tossed his black bandanna over to Jace, "You can use that for your ears."

Jace caught it and quickly worked to fasten it over his head. "Thanks, Auron. Hopefully this'll help."

"It helps mine just fine." Zack said. He wore a pair of black shorts and a blue t-shirt.

"The only problem is my ears," Sapphire said next to him, "Considering mine don't really fold so they can be covered up." She wore a modest blue two piece, the top covering her chest fully.

"It sucks you guys have to keep your ears covered like that," Shyla said, "I guess sand really sucks, though."

"Oh it does," Alyss said, "Trust me."

"Where's everyone else at?" Jace asked everyone, "I know Alex, Aulin, Heath, and Barrett are still changing. What about Raine and Vivi and the others?"

"Talking to the lifeguards and some other people about that bonfire," Alyss answered, "Now that I think about it, maybe we should've asked before this so we can get the things we need to start it."

"That would've been smart." Zack said.

"Vivi can probably convince them to let us," Jace said, "But then we wouldn't have anything to start it."

"Either way it goes, we can relax," Sapphire said, looking around the beach at multiple other tourists that were laying around on blankets on the sand. Her eyes caught sight of an unoccupied net and she grinned, "Or... Who's up for some volleyball?"

"I'm in!" Alyss said excitedly, "It's been a long time since I've played. Last time I did, you and Zack destroyed me and Heath. "

"I don't really know about doing that..." Shyla said sheepishly, "I'm not that athletic at all..."

"That's fine if you don't want to." Alyss said.

"You can maybe try later if ya want," Auron said, "Either way, I'm just gonna sit here an' watch the chaos."

"So what? Is it gonna be couples against couples?" Jace asked with a grin.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Alyss said.

"Alright then," Sapphire grinned, "We'll go find a ball. You guys sit tight."

Sapphire and Zack left them and walked down the beach toward a small shack. Jace opened his book and started reading a bit as Alyss laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm still surprised that you haven't finished that." She said.

"I never had a lot of time after I first started reading it," Jace replied, "I'm just starting over from the beginning since I really kinda forgot what happens."

"So, what reasons did you all bring your weapons?" Shyla asked the three members of JKDW.

"You never know if Grimm will show up." Alyss answered.

"And I just always take _Legacy_ anywhere with me." Jace said.

"I just wanted to join in," Auron laughed, "Raine'll have her bow too."

"Hey guys!"

Everyone looked to where the call came from and saw Raine leaning out of a truck's window, with Vivi in the driver seat. In the bed was a large pile of cut wood that was tied down to it. Sitting on the wood were all members of team RWBY, waving at them. Raine jumped out of the window and grabbed _Amaranth_ and her quiver, then Vivi exited with _Obsidian_. Raine wore a dark-green bikini and tight tube top with a straw sun hat with large spots for her ears to rest in and Vivi wore a black two piece with the top having a ring in the middle over her cleavage. She had blue ear protectors on over her ears, keeping them snug and protected from sand.

The other girls hopped out of the back of the truck and made their way over as well, Blake with a book in hand. Blake wore a simple black two piece and ahe carried a small bag. Ruby wore a black one piece with red edges to it. Weiss wore a white one piece with a bit of light-blue frills along the top of it. Yang wore a more revealing bright yellow two piece, custom made with her burning heart emblem on the right breast.

"We got good news!" Yang cheered.

"I guess we can have that fire?" Jace asked them.

"Thanks to Vivi, yeah." Ruby answered.

"Because this one is technically the only adult here," Vivi grinned, "They said they wouldn't let a group of students have a fire unsupervised, even if two were from here."

"We borrowed dad's truck," Ruby said, "Then Vivi got us some firewood. That's why it took us so long."

"And Blake had to pick out what book she wanted to bring." Yang snickered.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for wanting something to do if I'm not doing anything else."

"Same with me." Jace said and held up his book.

Blake tilted her head a bit. "What are you reading?"

" _Soldiers of the Wasteland_ ," Jace answered her, "It's a medieval fantasy about people coming together to return three sacred warhammers to their rightful places. What about you?"

"It's one about people called samurai, called _Spirit of Ronin,_ " Blake said, taking a seat near them, "It's a fantasy about a man trying to regain his memories by going through multiple trials of spirit. It has some cute romance scenes. Maybe we can borrow each other's sometime."

Jace nodded. "Maybe when I can hopefully finish this."

"Where are everyone else?" Raine asked.

"Aulin, Alex, Heath, and Barrett are still changing," Alyss answered and grinned, "Nice hat, by the way."

Raine shrugged. "Hey, I like it. What about Sapphire and Zack?"

"They're off tryin' to get a ball to use." Auron said, pointing his finger to a volleyball net.

"Oh that sounds like fun!" Yang exclaimed.

"It does. I can't wait to see all the jiggling." Aulin said behind them. She wore her midnight-purple bikini that she bought before.

Yang laughed. "You know it." She agreed and recieved two slaps on her arms from Weiss and Ruby.

"You two don't be lewd!" Ruby chided them.

"Aul's always lewd." Alex said next to the faded-purple-haired girl. He wore a pair of thin blue pants and a white t-shirt.

"That much is obvious," Weiss replied dryly, "The same with Yang."

"Oh come on, princess," Yang grinned, "You know you like it."

"That isn't the point, Yang."

* * *

"Who's next?" Zack asked with a grin, having just defeated Ruby and Blake with his mate as his teammate.

"You guys got lucky!" Ruby whined.

"You're just mad that you didn't get to use your semblance." Yang called.

"Shut up, Yang!" Ruby pouted, crossing her arms.

Blake kissed her on the cheek. "It's alright, Ruby. We came closer than anyone else. Closer than Yang and Weiss."

Ruby started grinning. "Yeah, we did better than you two!" She exclaimed toward her sister and partner.

"I don't have the practice that Sapphire and Zack have," Weiss huffed, "If I had, we would've won."

"It's not really practice," Sapphire said, holding the volleyball in her hands, "Well, I guess it could be. It was just something to do for fun considering all the sand around Vacuo."

"Even so, they were better than me and Aly." Heath said. She wore her orange sun dress she bought during her visit to Alyss' home. Barrett was laying next to her, wearing a pair of green shorts.

"I really suck at these types of sports," Barrett remarked, "Ain't my callin', though. Bein' a Huntsman is where it's at for me."

"How's your mom?" Aulin asked him.

"She's okay. Everything's normal right now," Barrett answered her, "But the doctors said she has a few smaller problems with her heart. When Heath asked if I wanted to come, mom told me to go and spend some time with my friends. It's got my mind off of it at least."

"I can think of a couple ways to give you a bit more time to not think about it." Heath told him, kissing the side of his neck.

Barrett grinned. "Anything that'll help, Sunshine."

"Barrett, I want to meet your mom some day." Alyss said.

"Think you can help her?" Barrett asked.

"I think she really can," Jace said, "She grew a kid's arm, so she should be able to heal heart problems."

"I guess that would be common sense now," Barrett remarked, "I dunno when we'd be able to make that happen though."

"Maybe I can take a couple days and go to Vacuo." Alyss said.

"We're leaving early tomorrow," Sapphire said, "Maybe you can come with us."

"And leave me behind?" Jace asked with a grin.

"You know you can come too." Zack said.

"I have maintenance tomorrow though. Probably after you guys leave. I don't know how, but I already got sand in it. I can feel it kinda grinding in the joints a bit. Besides, I don't wanna smother Aly too much."

"I wouldn't be too long anyway," Alyss said, "I'd visit everyone's parents for a little bit too. It would be at least a day or two, then I guess I'm heading home."

"Aren't Sapphire's parents in Menagerie though?" Auron asked.

"My mom is, but dad's in Vacuo," Sapphire answered, "If we can, me and dad go to Hibana to see mom, but I just go stay with dad if we can't find an airship over."

"That's a good a plan as any for your situation," Auron said, "It sucks, though. You can't really see your mom when you want to, can ya?"

Sapphire shook her head. "No, I can't. It's fine, though..." She gave a sigh, "Maybe someday we can see each other more."

"I'll let mom know she'll have a visitor," Barrett said to Alyss, turning the conversation back from the topic, "If you can help her, then I don't know what I'd do to thank you."

Alyss grinned. "A hug would be nice."

"So..." Zack cleared his throat, "Who's next?"

Alyss tugged on Jace's arm. "C'mon. Let's try our luck."

Jace nodded. "Sure. Maybe we can pull an upset."

"Alright then. Let's set some ground rules," Zack said as the two cat Faunus made their way to the opposite side of the net, "First, no-"

"No semblance, I got it." Jace interrupted.

"Yeah, that. Second, how's your prosthetic with hitting things?"

Jace shrugged. "I know how much or how little force certain things need."

"Alright, that's all I can think of." Zack said.

"You ready to lose, Aly?" Sapphire asked her old teammate with a grin.

Alyss laughed. "I'm ready to try something. By the way, thanks for helping with my bow, Blake." She said to the amber-eyed girl.

"No problem, Alyss." Blake replied as she returned to her book.

Alyss stretched her limbs a bit and Jace rolled his neck. "So... any other rules?"

"No dust." Sapphire replied.

Jace rolled his eyes. "That's kind of a given."

"Hurry up an' do somethin'!" Auron yelled.

Zack shrugged. "You guys ready?" He asked his opponents.

"Ready as I can be with never playing this before." Jace remarked.

"I'm ready." Alyss said.

"You ready, Fawn?" Zack asked his mate.

Sapphire grinned. "You know it."

"Alright then," Zack said and prepared himself, "Same as always, first to ten."

He served the ball and sent it across the net. Alyss ran to it in the front and hit it up in the air back across as Jace hung back toward the back. Sapphire smacked it over toward Zack and he jumped in the air, then he spiked it down to the ground on Alyss and Jace's side.

"One." Zack smirked.

The game went on for close to twenty minutes. Zack and Sapphire had nine points and Jace and Alyss had five. The ball was going back and forth between them for several moments and they were all focused completely on it. Everyone had taken a few spills to the sand, but not all was well as Jace felt his prosthetic lagging in its movements and he was basically a one-armed player. The game ended when he dove for the ball but was too late to smack it back in the air.

"Who can defeat the streak!?" Zack called with a laugh.

"I could've done so much better if it wasn't for this stupid sand." Jace said irritably as he brushed the sand off his prosthetic.

"Excuses, excuses." Sapphire smirked.

Jace stuck his tongue out at them. "Welp, I'm done with sand for awhile."

"How laggy is it?" Alyss asked him.

"Very laggy and very grindy-feeling," Jace answered, "Before we go to bed, can you take it off? Or does the manual say anything about that?"

"I don't think it does," Alyss told him as the two took a seat in one of Auron's dust metal chairs, "I'll send a message and ask Hayley real quick."

"Okay."

As Alyss did that, Raine and Vivi had stepped up to take on the seemingly unbeatable Faunus mates. "So, do you two really think you can beat a couple of Rangers?" Raine asked the two with a grin.

Zack scoffed. "You saw our path of dominance. Your leader lost to us."

"And I'm nothing like him," Raine retorted and took her hat off, tossing it over to her teammates, "No offense, Jace."

Jace waved it off. "Whatever. Just put them in their place."

Vivi laughed. "This one believes their reign is just about over."

"Blake, bow me up!" Raine requested.

Blake chuckled and set her book down, then she dug through her bag to find two extra bows. "I'll assume that you'll want Vivi to wrap your ears up?"

Raine nodded. "Right."

* * *

"I'm still mad." Zack said, crossing his arms as he looked at the fire later that day after the sun went down to the horizon.

Raine laughed once more. "Nowhere in your rulebook did you say ' _no using your feet_ '. I didn't cheat." She said, wearing her hat once more.

"You're just mad because you didn't expect it." Vivi added.

"Who the hell expects a kick in a volleyball match!?" Zack yelled.

"Zack!" Sapphire admonished and smacked him hard on the arm.

That caused everyone in the group to laugh. "I wasn't payin' too much attention to that anyway." Aulin smirked.

Raine threw an empty soda can at her. "Quit checking out my girlfriend!"

Aulin blocked the can and snickered. "No can do, Raindrop."

"I wasn't paying that much attention with my arm being crap all of a sudden." Jace remarked as he stared at his switched-off prosthetic. Alyss had switched it off and Jace had it in a makeshift sling to keep it from moving around and grinding the insides of it.

"You'll get it fixed soon enough." Alyss said and kissed his cheek.

"Jace, I have to ask," Weiss started, "Alyss healed a boy's arm, right?" She asked.

"She did," Raine confirmed, "She has that ring for it."

Weiss nodded. "So... why don't you have an operation to remove the prosthetic's base so she can grow a real arm for you?"

"You know I wouldn't mind, sweetie," Alyss said softly and held his hand, "You're not taking advantage of me."

"Wouldn't you be happier with that?" Ruby asked this time.

"Honestly, I probably would be," Jace answered truthfully, "And if things were different and I wasn't training to be a Huntsman, then I'd have no problems doing that. But this is a reminder to be as careful as I can when I fight. I lost it and I accepted it and moved on. I could've died. I need to keep it and remember that I need to always be on my guard on missions because I might lose everything I love."

"That was well said," Vivi said, holding her right forearm where she kept a blue bow wrapped around, "This one never asked Alyss to heal the scars on her arm. The White Fang got the drop on her and did this, and she needs to remember and learn from her mistakes."

"Same with me and when that Armaddon broke my arm," Alex said next, "I mean, I came out of that for the better considering I'm dating Aul now, but still, I need to be careful. Anything could happen. We just have to watch ourselves and each other."

"I guess that's true..." Ruby said, "It's kinda why I've been trying to train with hand to hand stuff. As much as I don't wanna say it, I'm trash without _Crescent Rose_. If I lost her in a fight, then I'm screwed."

"Don't call yourself trash, Ruby." Blake chided her.

Ruby shrugged. "It's kinda true, though..."

"No, it's not," Blake insisted, "You might not be good at fighting with your fists, but it doesn't mean you're trash. You've been getting better thanks to training with Yang and Pyrrha. You're not close to their level, sure, but you're getting better. You just need to keep at it."

"I guess so..." Ruby sighed.

"You see Jaune?" Auron asked with a laugh, "I don't mean nothin' bad by it, but he ain't nowhere close to the best fighter. I seen 'im spar against Pyrrha in Anima an' he's got a lot better since I first seen 'im fight. Take it from me that anyone can get better an' I got Pyr to thank for that."

"And I kinda got you to thank, Auron," Barrett said, "After what you said, I took a lot into account about how I fight. I try to see what who I'm against is doin' and I try to act on it. I've been trainin' more and now I'm pretty sure I made it to twelfth spot in combat class. Still not in top ten, but I'm farther than what I've been before. Also helps that I don't have people like you, Pyrrha, or Weiss to compete against over there." He finished with a short laugh.

"And I got better too," Sapphire spoke up, "At first, I was horrible with _Uranagi_ , my weapon. It's a pair of blades on chains basically. I was _so_ bad. I'm still surprised I'm team leader. I trained with Zack and Heath and Barrett so much that I'm at least competent now. I'm really surprised I got by combat school, but miss Blaine said she saw potential in me. I can't help people if I die from being bad."

"If you guys ever need anything for your weapons, let me know," Shyla said to everyone, "I _will_ get you the best parts you need as cheap as I can. I want all of you to be safe and I want all your weapons to be in the best condition they can be. It's my way of helping the world I guess."

"Oh... Think I could get a good bolt for _Crescent Rose_?" Ruby asked her.

Shyla nodded. "Just give me the size and the specs you need."

"Ruby also improved as our leader as well," Weiss said with a glance to the scythe wielder, "At first, I was... _unhappy_ that Ruby was named leader."

"She was beyond pissed." Yang snickered.

"Y-yes, that," Weiss said, crossing her arms, "But after talking with Professor Port, I gave her a chance and she reached my expectations. For a leader her age, at least."

Ruby beamed under the praise. "Thanks, Weiss! I'm glad I proved myself to you."

"I think all of you just need to take things slow," Vivi said after a few moments had passed, "You have all these things to fight for and protect, but you're still just students. Just see if you can focus on your relationships for now. And schoolwork too. But, I know you all have that part covered pretty well."

"What, do you Rangers look through school records too?" Yang asked with a laugh.

"Yes, actually." Vivi replied.

"Wait... Really?"

"Records show that you've been in a few fights because people made fun of your sister," Vivi smirked, "Grades are a bit below average. Weiss is near spotless. Grades are exceptional. Only one case of violence when she froze Cardin Winchester sixty feet in the air onto the side of the dorms."

"He was disrespecting my leader." Weiss said.

"Saying that children shouldn't be allowed in Beacon, which is stupid because you are still teenagers," Vivi continued, "Blake has good grades and has no cases of violence. Although, the records list her as human."

"I'll be talking with Ozpin about this when we go back," Blake said nervously, "I hope I don't get thrown out for lying about my ears."

"Don't you worry about that. You're a skilled fighter. I'm sure he can look past one little lie about your race."

"Yeah. _Little_." Blake deadpanned.

Vivi grinned. "And Ruby. Average grades, no history of violence. Only little thing is that you had a dog on campus when they aren't allowed. That's kind of on all of you."

"I'm sure dad explained things to Ozpin though!" Ruby exclaimed, "He had to go on a mission!"

"Even so, it was still against the rules," Vivi laughed, "Anyways, yeah, this one does have access to school records. At least for Beacon and Signal."

"Alright, you let everyone else know our records," Yang crossed her arms, "How about you tell us JKDW's, Aulin's, and Alex's." She requested.

"Alright," Vivi agreed, "Jace has decent grades. Small history of violence against those two students at mission selection. Nothing major."

"Because of Alyss." Jace remarked.

"We all figured." Blake laughed.

"And Auron has below average grades, but excels in combat class." Vivi continued.

Auron shrugged. "Like I keep sayin', I ain't all that smart outside o' fightin."

"Says the person who compensated for every single one of us with your jerky," Shyla remarked, "You're pretty smart. Maybe not in schoolwork or anything like that, but you're smart in your own way."

"Everyone's been sayin' that a lot lately," Auron said and smiled, "Makes me feel pretty great."

"We're not just saying it to make you feel better," Alyss told him, "It's true."

"Thanks... So, what about the rest of our records?" Auron asked Vivi.

Vivi nodded. "Well, Raine has exceptional grades and a history of violence in the same spot as Jace and when she hung a boy upside down in a tree at Signal."

"He grabbed my ears." Raine said.

Yang laughed loudly. "For your size, you're kinda fierce."

"Five and a half feet of fury when it calls for it." Vivi grinned.

"Five and a half feet of something else sometimes too." Raine said and winked at her girlfriend.

"That is very true."

"Is that really appropriate to say right now?" Weiss questioned her, "In front of everyone here?"

"It's the same as Weiss," Yang said, putting an arm around the heiress' shoulders, "Five and a half feet of s-mmph!" Weiss silenced her, placing a hand over her mouth.

"That's quite enough of that, you brute." Weiss scolded her.

"Let's get back on track." Alyss said, leaning into Jace and crossing her arms.

"Yeah, please." Ruby groaned.

"And what record does our Kitty Cat have at Beacon?" Heath asked Vivi tiredly.

"Right," Vivi said with a grin, "Alyss has average grades. Her combat grades are improving steadily. Thirteen in the rankings before the year ended while Raine was five, Auron was four, and Jace was seven."

"Told you guys I wasn't the best against people." Alyss said.

"You're still leagues ahead of CRDL," Weiss told her, "I don't think they're serious about being in Beacon. I wish they would just drop out and save the professors the trouble."

"Is that those four really annoying bullies that tried messing with Saph?" Zack asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Yep," Yang replied, "Just pieces of crap that really need their attitudes adjusted."

"They haven't messed with me since I froze Cardin and Russell's mouths shut." Jace said.

"I think they know I'm an apprentice Ranger," Raine said, grinning and chuckling, "I haven't seen them even look at me the wrong way."

"I remember us all against them in sparrin'," Barrett started laughing, growing louder after a few moments, "Zack didn't let up for anything against 'em until the buzzer rang. I saw the look in his eyes when we won. He was tensed up so much until Sapphire put her hand on his arm. I think it scared the heck out of 'em."

"They never bothered me again." Sapphire grinned.

"They never bothered Velvet again after Yatsu stared them down," Blake said, "He didn't have to say a word. He just _stared_ at them and they stopped."

"About the school records..." Jace said after a moment, "What about Aul and Alex?"

"Their grades are above failing," Vivi answered him, "Bad with tests on land-based Grimm, but excel with water-based Grimm. No history of violence, but people have reported sounds coming from closets around school and they were seen coming from those closets a little while later."

Ruby groaned and everyone stared at the two. "I could've went without knowing that!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Hey, that don't mean we were doing anything," Aulin defended herself and Alex, "We just make out a lot. There's no way that I'm gonna have someone open one of those doors to us doing more than that."

"It was only once." Alex admitted.

"Can we _please_ not talk about this?" Weiss asked everyone in exasperation.

"Yeah, please," Alyss said quickly, "Back to the records, does that mean Raine would have access to them too?"

Vivi laughed at the quick attempt at changing the subject. "No. Apprentices don't have that access. That would be highly unfair." She answered.

"Like how we lost our volleyball match." Zack said.

Raine laughed. "Quit complaining with that!"

* * *

As the shattered moon rose higher into the sky, the embers of the bonfire died down and everyone was growing tired. Yang had taken her team back to her home after they all fell asleep. She put them in the truck and covered Ruby and Blake in a blanket in the bed. She had drove them back and everyone else decided to call it a night as well. Jace doused the fire with water from his palm for a few minutes as most everyone else picked up their trash.

"We should really get to bed," Sapphire said and yawned heavily, "We're leaving at around seven."

"I doubt I'll be up that early unless Alyss wakes me up," Jace said and stopped with the water, "So I guess I'll see you guys when the tournament comes."

"Oh I'll get you up," Alyss assured him, "I'm not leaving without saying bye to your face."

Jace smiled. "Good, because I'd be pretty confused for a bit." He took the bandanna off his head and handed it to Auron.

"How much longer are everyone else stayin'?" Auron asked everyone else, "I planned on headin' out with Shy in a couple days."

"I might go later tomorrow if there's a flight to Atlas." Jace said.

"And I'm heading back to Calm with Hayley tomorrow." Raine said.

"And this one will be going with her for a couple days." Vivi said, grinning at the smile Raine sent her.

Barrett stood up, holding a sleeping Heath in his arms. "It was good to get out of the house for awhile. Glad I got to spend some time with everyone."

"Especially that ball of energy you're holding, right?" Alyss asked him with a grin.

Barrett smiled. "Definitely."

"I guess we should all get back to the inn." Sapphire said.

"Yeah. Gotta get to sleep and get up early. Then, Aly has a date with Barrett's mom." Zack said.

Barrett laughed a bit. "Hopefully dad won't get jealous."

Everyone went to Auron's truck and Barrett set Heath in the back seat and got in next to her, Shyla quickly got in the passenger seat and Auron in the driver seat, and everyone else hopped in the bed. Auron started his truck and drove off the beach and down the road toward town. A comfortable and peaceful silence filled the air other than the sounds of the engine. After awhile, they arrived back at the inn and went inside.

The innkeeper, an aging man with graying-red hair, looked up from his scroll. "Oh, hey. You guys have a good time?"

"We did," Vivi answered him, "Why are you still awake?"

The man shrugged. "Figured I'd stay up and make sure you all make it back alright so I can lock the place up. Speaking of that..." He set his scroll down on the counter and walked out from behind it, "I'll go ahead and do that. Want anything to drink real quick?"

"No thank you. We really need to get some sleep." Sapphire said and everyone said the same.

The innkeeper nodded. "Alright then. Sleep tight."

Everyone retired to their rooms. Raine and Vivi, Auron and Shyla, and Jace and Alyss had separate small rooms to themselves while SHRA had a bigger room for their whole team. Jace and Alyss entered theirs and Jace sat down at the table. Alyss grabbed the bag containing all of his prosthetic maintenance things and she sat next to him. She brought her scroll out and went to find the instructions Hayley sent her.

"Okay, this doesn't look all that complicated." Alyss said and went to work on detaching the prosthetic. She undid the locks and pulled the pins out that connected the nerves.

Jace felt a small jolt every time one of them were pulled. "I wonder how much sand got in it." He said.

"Probably a good amount considering every time you jumped and fell after the ball," Alyss replied. She completed what she needed to do and she slowly took the arm off of Jace's shoulder.

"Oh wow, this is surprisingly light." She remarked as she set the arm on the table.

"That's Atlesian steel for you." Jace said.

Alyss looked at him wih a grin. "Is that why _Legacy_ is as heavy as a house?"

Jace laughed. "It's an artillery claymore. It's supposed to be heavy."

"Whatever you say, Kitten." Alyss giggled.

"You leaving _Soul Leaf_ or taking it?" Jace asked her.

"Hmm..." Alyss thought about it, "I'd like to take it with me so I can clean the sand out of it, but I dunno if I'll have the time."

"You can leave it with me and I'll clean it," Jace offered, "I don't mind to. _Legacy_ will need it definitely. Damn sand."

Alyss laughed. "I'd rather do a bit of maintenance than be defenseless if Grimm show up."

Jace shrugged. "Doesn't stop sand from being annoying. How's your ears?"

Alyss took her bow off of them both and flicked them around. "Sore, but sand free. How about yours?"

"Sore as fuck," Jace said and rubbed them, "But no sand, thankfully. Now, I'm gonna go try to change with one arm. Wish me luck."

Alyss tilted her head a bit. "Want some help?" She asked, smiling innocently.

Jace grinned. "I won't oppose."


	41. Chapter 41: Separation Part One

**Chapter Forty One**

 **Separation Part One**

"Bye sweetie," Alyss said and kissed Jace on the lips, "See you in a couple weeks."

"Bye Kitten," Jace wrapped her in a one-armed hug, "When Hayley gets here and puts that temporary arm on, I'll clean _Soul Leaf_ for you."

Alyss nodded. "Okay. Remember to take care of it when I'm not around."

"I'll try. It'll be a bit difficult, but I need to do it myself sometimes. Maybe I should buy another arm... I'll need to talk to Hayley. Be safe and good luck with Barrett's mom."

"I'll do my best."

"And see you guys later," Jace said to SHRA, "Barrett, I hope you and your family are gonna be alright."

Barrett nodded. "Me too, Jace. It's... real weird just seein' you with one arm."

"Feels weird too. Won't last more than a day though." Jace grinned.

"Thanks for convincing me to want to come, Aly," Zack said to his former teammate, "It was fun."

"Thank Yang for hyping Patch up so much." Alyss replied.

"We'll be sure to when we see her again," Sapphire said, then she turned and hugged Jace, "See you later, Jace."

Jace hugged back. "Later, Saph."

"If it wasn't for me knowing that Saph is a hugger, I'd kinda be a bit possessive." Zack said, crossing his arms.

"I know what you mean," Jace replied, "Dog Faunus are more possesive of their mates than most Faunus, right?"

"Right."

"But he trusts us all to hug her," Heath grinned, "He knows we won't try to take her away."

"And if they try, they'll always fail because Zack is my Big Puppy." Sapphire said with a smile to Zack.

"And Saph is my Little Fawn." Zack said, returning to hold her hand.

"We should probably get goin'," Barrett told them, "Ship's about to leave."

"Right..." Alyss hugged Jace again, more tightly this time, "This'll be the first time since we've met where we'll be so far away from each other..."

Jace sighed, hugging back just as tight. "Yeah... I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Kitten."

Jace looked at the others. "I know I don't have to say it, but..."

"We'll take care of her," Sapphire assured him, "We can hang out for a couple days just like old times."

Jace smiled. "See you guys later. Bye, Pretty Kitty."

"Bye, Jace." Alyss said, then SHRA and Alyss left for the airship.

Jace waved when they all looked back to him, and they waved back before disappearing into the ship. Jace lowered his hand and watched for a few moments as the airship took off into the air, on its way toward Vacuo. Jace watched as it grew smaller and smaller before he returned to the inn.

"Your group's dwindling, ain't it?" The innkeeper asked him as he sat down at the counter.

"Yeah... It's kinda lonely now." Jace replied, propping up his head in his hand.

"Want some breakfast?" The man asked, "Bagels, eggs, bacon, sausage."

Jace nodded. "Sure. I haven't really explored around town much. Is there a place that sells vodka or whiskey?"

The innkeeper cocked an eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit young to drink?"

Jace laughed. "It doesn't matter for me. I can't get drunk."

"I have a tough time believing that."

"It's true. You can ask my friends when they wake up. I didn't plan on getting anything for me anyway. It's more of a gift for my dad and my older brother."

* * *

Alyss looked out the window of the airship, leaning her head against the glass as she saw Jace get smaller and smaller. She sighed heavily and took her gaze from the window, smiling a bit as she looked over her former team.

"Does mom know you're gonna be a few days late?" Sapphire asked her.

Alyss nodded. "I texted her after I woke up. She's okay with it."

"I really hope you can help mom, Alyss," Barrett said. His leg was bouncing up and down in anticipation of his mother hopefully being relieved of her pain, "You have no idea how much it means to me that you wanna help. I know you just want to help anyone but still... Thank you."

Alyss smiled a bit more and nodded. "I'm glad to hopefully help."

"So Aly," Sapphire spoke up again and smiled at her friend, "I heard from a certain puppy that you wanna..." She lowered her voice and leaned forward over the table, "be Jace's mate. That true?"

Alyss blushed and nodded slowly once more. "Y-yeah... I really do."

Heath stared at her, her eyes slowly growing more open as she opened her mouth more and more. Before she let out a squeal, Sapphire clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Don't be drawing attention to us, Heath," Sapphire told her, "This isn't something for strangers to hear."

Heath nodded and Sapphire removed her hand. "You wanna be Faunus-married?" Heath asked silently.

Alyss giggled a bit at the way she put it. "I do. Jace has made me so happy."

"You just have to find the right time," Zack said with a grin, "And I know you think you have the right place in mind."

"Oh, does she wanna go to the oasis?" Sapphire asked.

Zack shook his head. "Nope. Apparently there's a better place in Solitas. Gotta see it to believe it apparently."

"Oh I wanna see it!" Heath exclaimed.

Alyss laughed. "Some day, Heath."

"I hope it goes well for you, Alyss," Barrett told the cat Faunus with a smile, "Saph and Zack told us about mating when they decided to do it. It seems like an awesome thing to have with someone. Kinda wish there was somethin' like that for humans."

"Don't worry, Bear," Heath giggled at his side, "I can give you all kinds of marks. Just let me know when and where."

"Really Heath?" Alyss shook her head, "Just wait until I hopefully help Lyla. Then Barrett will be really happy. Then maybe he'll give you something good." She grinned at the dumbfounded look on Heath, Sapphire, and Zack's faces.

"Alyss! I'm surprised at you!" Sapphire said in shock, "When did you get such a dirty mind."

Alyss laughed. "I wouldn't call it a dirty mind on my part. I've just been getting more used to that kind of talk around me. Blame Aulin."

* * *

"This is more sand than what I thought there would be..." Hayley told Jace in the main room of Patch's inn. She had his prosthetic completely taken apart and laid out on a table in one of the corners of the room.

"Blame volleyball." Jace replied, clenching and unclenching the temporary arm's fingers.

"For all the awesone stuff I saw, I wanna _thank_ volleyball," Aulin laughed, sitting next to Jace with Alex right next to her on the other side, "I just wish there was some wardrobe malfunctions."

"This one came close to having one," Vivi laughed, sitting across from them with Raine at her side, "She thinks that Raine was very distracted."

Raine crossed her arms. "We could've lost because of you."

"You would've still won if it was us going against you," Alex remarked, "Aul couldn't keep her eyes off of Vivi."

"Aulin, what do I keep telling you?" Raine asked the faded purple-haired teen.

Aulin shrugged. "I can't help it that your girlfriend has an amazing body. Quit being jealous."

"Vivi does have a nice body, I won't lie," Jace admitted with a grin, "But Alyss' body is just perfect to me."

"I'm telling Alyss you said that." Alex warned him.

"That I said her body's perfect?" Jace asked, "Cool. Maybe I might get a treat."

"That's not... Never mind." Alex shook his head.

Vivi laughed. "Thank you both for the compliment," She thanked Aulin and Jace, "Maybe..." She grinned mischievously, "Maybe you should keep doing it. Maybe if Raine gets really jealous, she may just prove to me that I'm hers."

"You just wait until we're alone, Big Kitty." Raine warned.

"So Jace, how's your friend doing with that new hand?" Hayley asked suddenly, red in the face after hearing everything.

Jace laughed loudly. "Sorry. I forgot you were two years younger than us," He chuckled more and shook his head, "He's pretty good, still. I texted him a few days ago about it. You decide what you're gonna do with Ironwood?"

Hayley nodded. "We came to an agreement. I technically work for him, but I'm still independent. I'll stay In Calm and he'll send people to me from Vale and Vacuo and around the kingdoms while people from Anima go up to Atlas since it's closer. Both me and the labs up in Atlas get lien from the client, like they pay them to get it set up and pay me for when I actually get it made. Basically the same as always for me."

"That sounds like a good job," Raine remarked, "Just keep doing what you've been doing."

"This one is sure that new equipment helps, doesn't it?" Vivi asked with a grin.

"It really does. Jace's dad helped a lot." Hayley answered her.

"Yeah, he tends to do that," Jace grinned, "I'm gonna go do something real quick. When I get back, I wanna talk to you about something."

Hayley nodded. "Alright. This might take a bit longer to clean than I planned, so I might be here a bit."

"See you later." Jace said and left the inn.

"We're coming too!" Aulin called after him, "Gotta go try to find something I'll like."

"Same here," Alex said and the two caught up with him, "I wanna see about getting something like what dad let us have a drink of."

"Okay. Let's go." Jace said and they stepped outside and turned to walk down the street.

Jace looked down at the palm of his temporary arm. He wiggled the fingers a bit and _hummed_ to himself about how well he'd do if he had to take his prosthetic off to give it maintenance himself if he needed to. He stopped looking at it and looked ahead, walking toward the store that sold alcohol. Along the way, he caught sight of Blake, Ruby, and Blake' parents standing near the airdocks. The two teens carried a few bags with them. Jace shrugged and walked across the street, followed by the others, then they made their way toward them.

Kali was the first to sense them and turned, giving a kind smile. "Hello kids. What happened to your arm, Jace?"

"My mechanic is cleaning the sand out of all the parts," Jace answered her, "I have to have this for a few hours. I guess you're about to leave?"

"Yeah, we are," Blake answered him, "I was planning on staying here with Yang and Ruby the whole break, but now that I reconnected with mom and dad I'm going home to Kuo Kuana for the rest of the summer."

"And I'm going with her, which I'm really nervous about," Ruby said at her side, "There's gonna be so many people because I've heard it's really crowded and I dunno what a lot of people are gonna think about me being human or even what they'd think about me dating-"

"Ruby," Blake squeezed her hand and stopped her from rambling, "Calm down a bit. I'm worried about that too, but I'm sure it'll be okay."

"If anyone tries to do anything to you while in Kuo Kuana, don't hesitate to tell me," Ghira said to both Blake and Ruby, "I will _tell_ them to leave their opinions to themselves. If my daughter wants to date a human, then it's none of their concern."

"If it goes well, tell me," Aulin requested of Ruby, "If I can next summer or if I have enough time soon, I wanna go visit Inu. If you see him, tell him we said hi."

Ruby nodded. "We will. I'll let you know how it goes, Aulin."

"I hope it'll be alright for you both," Jace said to his friends, "Raine said she wanted to go there sometime. She said her grandpa thought about moving there."

"It's a lovely place to live," Kali said, "It can get a bit hot, but other than that, it's great. I just wish more of the continent would be more habitable."

"Maybe someday," Jace offered, "Anyway, we're gonna go. I'm going to buy a gift for dad and Alyss and Alex and Aul wanna look around too. Take care."

"Goodbye, kids," Kali smiled, bowing her head a bit, "It was nice to meet you all. And your girlfriend, Jace."

Jace smiled. "I'm hoping to change that soon..." He said more to himself.

"Be sure to take it slow when you try." Kali said knowingly, having heard him.

Jace nodded. "Right."

"Bye Jace. Have fun with _Siege Breaker_." Ruby grinned.

"I'm gonna have to shoot it sometime soon," Jace said with a grin, "And let you too. See you guys later."

They said their goodbyes and Jace, Alex, and Aulin walked back across the street. They continued on down the street toward their destination. Jace knew Auron would be there or at least had been there that morning after he and Shyla had eaten breakfast. They finally found the store and he went through the door, seeing stacked shelves of alcoholic drinks lining the walls and in the middle of the store.

They immediately caught sight of the back of Auron's head at the counter over the middle shelf. Near the right side of the store was an older man with black hair, graying in a few places. He wore a gray and white dress shirt with two coattails to it, a pair of black dress pants, and dress shoes. He had a bit of stubble along his jawline and had red eyes that scanned the shelf he stood in front of.

They walked past the middle shelf and saw Shyla standing next to Auron. She saw them and waved as they overheard what Auron was saying.

"...So you ain't got any Broken Skull beer here?" Auron asked and the man shook his head.

"Sorry. We don't get them out here. I've been trying, though." The man behind the counter said.

Auron sighed. "Damn..."

"What about cherry or double-chocolate vodka?" Jace asked behind him.

"God damn!" Auron jumped and turned, seeing Jace grinning at him and Aulin and Alex snickering, "Why do you always do that to me?"

Jace laughed. "I don't always do that. Only when I think it would be funny."

"It was kinda funny." Shyla giggled.

Auron shook his head. "Quit it."

"Maybe someday." Jace said.

"So were you being serious about the vodka?" The shop owner asked Jace, "Because I _do_ have those. But... you look real young. I don't think I can sell you anything here."

"Why not?" Jace asked, "I mean, I was planning on getting a gift for my dad and older brother at least. Would it help if I said I can't get drunk?"

"Bullshit!" The man at the side of the shop exclaimed, turning around to look at him skeptically, "There's no damn way a kid like you can't get drunk."

"Oh shit..." The shopkeep groaned, "Don't start, Qrow."

The man called Qrow shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not lettin' this slide until I see some proof."

Jace tilted his head. "I don't want to drink anyone under the table, man."

Qrow laughed. "Kid, no one's ever drank me under the table except for my niece. You really wanna test me?"

"Oh this sounds like a challenge, Jace." Alex grinned.

The shopkeep sighed. "Alright kid... If you can beat Qrow in a drinking contest, then I'll sell to you. Qrow, go easy on him."

Qrow shook his head once more. "Nah, he seems sure of himself. He wants to play, then we'll play."

"Good luck, old man." Aulin snickered.

"Hey, I ain't old, kid." Qrow told her, narrowing his eyes.

"Sounds like dad." Jace remarked.

Auron started laughing. "I got an idea. Let's see who gets through a whole bottle o' vodka without gettin' piss-drunk. Shyla chooses."

"Don't drag me into this!" Shyla exclaimed, "I'm just an innocent bystander."

Auron rolled his eyes. "Fine. Shopkeep here can pick what you drink. Sound good?"

Qrow nodded. "Whatever works."

Jace sighed. "I tried to warn you."

"Good luck, Qrow," Auron said to the older man, "You're gonna need it."

* * *

"Gods, it's been so long since I've been here." Alyss said as she and the others stepped off of the airship in Vacuo.

"Nothing's changed, really," Sapphire told her, "Just a bit more sand."

They all walked down the streets, past multiple clay adobe houses in the lower-class district of Vacuo. "So, where's your house, Barrett?" Alyss asked the taller member of the group.

"It's on in the next district up. Right on the edge," Barrett told her, "I guess I'll take the lead. I already texted dad, so he knows what's goin' on."

Alyss nodded. "Alright. I can't wait to meet them."

They walked on through the streets, past multiple more buildings and small shops. They passed a few children playing with a kickball in the street, then their parents that were watching them closely. In a bit more than thirty minutes of a walk, they stood outside a small one-story house. The porch was small and had a small roof over it, and there was two windows at the front of the house. The whole thing was not like the clay houses in the other district. It was made of red brick, and the roof was triangular with a window, showing a bit of the inside of the attic.

The group stepped up to the door and Barrett opened it, leading them all inside. The walls were light-gray and there was a small table next to the door with a single flower in a vase sitting on top of it in the center. There were a few pictures on the walls of Barrett as a child, either with his friends or with family members. Barrett took them to the living room where an older man sat. He was bald, had no facial hair, and he had blue eyes with the same color of skin as Barrett, and he had more than a few wrinkles as well.

"Hey dad. How's it goin'?" Barrett asked his father.

He shrugged. "Just about the same as always. Lyla's been up an' down with her condition. She's sleepin' right now."

"It's good to see you again, Evan." Heath greeted him with a smile.

Evan nodded. "You too, Sunshine. Same with you two." He said to Zack and Sapphire.

"Dad, this is Alyss," Barrett introduced the cat Faunus to him, "She's gonna try an' help mom."

Evan looked at Alyss, cocking an eyebrow. "We don't got much to pay."

Alyss gulped a bit. "I-I don't want any lien, sir. After hearing what problems Lyla has been having, I wanted to try to help with my semblance."

Evan motioned to the couch and the chairs in the room. "Sit on down. You don't have to stand the whole time." He said and everyone sat down.

"Is Lyla okay right now?" Zack asked.

"She's just tired," Evan answered him, then he looked at Alyss, "Have you dealt with heart problems before?"

Alyss shook her head. "No, I haven't. I've grown back someone's eye, I've healed someone's lungs, I've healed my boyfriend's burns, I've healed my friend's burns from the tournament, I've made sure my boyfriend's brother's arm was fixed from being broken, I've healed a little girl's broken arm, and I grew a little boy an arm where he wasn't born with one. I'm hoping I can help Lyla."

"You did all that with your semblance?" Evan asked and Alyss nodded, "And you just wanna help for nothin' in return?"

"Right. I just want to help anyone I can with my semblance, any way I can. That's my goal in life. I don't help people for the lien, I do it to make them happy."

Evan looked at the vidcaster for a few moments. It was on the news channel, saying something about talks the councils had been having. They had been going on about an intercontinental railway system to connect to every kingdom, for an easier way for people to travel between the continents, excluding Menagerie for the time being.

Evan took a deep breath and let it out evenly. "If you can help Lyla, then you'll have every bit of my respect and gratitude, Alyss."

Alyss smiled. "When do you want me to try? I'll stay as long as it takes."

"I'll go see if she's awake." Evan said and left the room.

Alyss calmed her nerves as best as she could. "I really hope I can help."

"Hey, even if ya can't, then it's no harm done," Barrett assured her, "What matters is that you wanna try."

"You can do it, Aly," Sapphire said with a grin, "You've done so much good things with your semblance. You grew a kid's arm for Oum's sake."

"I think this is kinda simple compared to that." Barrett remarked.

"I'm just so nervous..." Alyss said quietly, "I always get nervous when I try to help a stranger like this."

"Hey, you know what helps with that nervousness?" Heath asked with a grin and stood from her seat on Barrett's lap. She stepped over and began scritching Alyss' ears with both hands, "Scritches!"

Alyss closed her eyes and started _purring_. "Mmm... Yeah, this always helps. Better with more people, though..." She said playfully.

The other two of her original team immediately came over and joined in with Heath. "You wanna join in, Bear?" Heath asked her boyfriend.

Barrett shrugged. "I guess I could..." He said and stood from his seat. He made his way behind Alyss and placed one of his large hands on her head, then he began scratching lightly, "This good?" He asked her.

"Mhmm~" Alyss replied, lolling her head back and forth between everyone's fingers.

"Okay, good," Barrett said, "I never thought about touching a Faunus' trait before. I just don't wanna hurt your ears the first time I do."

"It's okay," Alyss assured him, "You're fine."

Barrett chuckled. "Plus I don't want Jace breathin' down my neck if I did hurt them."

"Okay, Lyla's awake..." Evan said as he returned, stopping when he saw everyone surrounding Alyss and hearing the deep purring from her, "Huh. Didn't know that cat Faunus purr."

"Oh yeah, they do." Barrett laughed.

"Alright everyone, as much as I don't wanna say it, that's enough for now," Alyss said and everyone stopped. She stood from the couch and nodded to Evan, "I'm ready to try if she wants me to."

Evan nodded. "Okay. Follow me. She wants to see you too, Barrett."

Barrett and Alyss followed after Evan and he led them down the hall. They stepped into the master bedroom and Alyss saw Lyla, Barrett's mother. She was as old as Evan looked. She had thin, nearly completely gray hair that was splayed out behind her head. Her eyes were a dull diamond color and her face showed more wrinkles of her age than her husband.

Alyss almost gasped at seeing the frail condition that Barrett's mother was in. She was skinny, and not from keeping in shape either. It was from where she had been bedridden for months. She was breathing deep with each breath she took and she had to use an oxygen machine to pump air through her nose.

"Hello there. Are you Alyss?" Lyla asked the cat Faunus.

Alyss nodded. "Y-yeah. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, dear," Lyla replied and looked to Barrett, "Did you have a good time in Patch, Little Bear?"

Barrett nodded. "Yeah, I did. We played volleyball and Zack and Sapphire completely shut me and Heath out. We didn't get any points at all."

Lyla laughed weakly. "Sounds like it was fun."

Barrett forced a smile. "It really was."

"Honey, Alyss says she might be able to heal your heart..." Evan told Lyla.

"Really?" Lyla asked, then she looked back to the girl, "You're... not one of those con-people, are you?"

"N-no ma'am. I actually think I can help you with my semblance." Alyss replied.

Lyla nodded slowly. "Okay. If you really believe you can, then you can try."

"Do you need a chair or anything?" Ethan asked Alyss.

"If you don't mind." Alyss answered him.

"Alright. I'll get one from the kitchen."

* * *

"You fuckin' cheated, ya little shit..." Qrow stammered out as Jace and Alex helped the Huntsman through the forested path behind Patch, "Jus' wait 'till my niece hears about you..."

Jace sighed. "I tried to warn you I couldn't get drunk. And at least I'm taking you to Tai's house."

"How'n the fuck d'you know him?"

"His daughter took us there to meet him." Aulin told him.

"You her girlfriend an' boyfriends too or somethin'?" Qrow asked them all, "She got a poly thing goin' with that Ice Queen's sister?"

"I'm young. I honestly wouldn't mind trying something if Alex, Yang, and Weiss wanted to," Aulin remarked, "But no, we aren't dating."

"She just took us all and my teammates to meet her dad since we were here," Jace told Qrow, "Who's the Ice Queen."

Qrow mumbled something under his breath, shaking his head. "Jus' get me to the damn house."

Jace shrugged and they pushed on down the path. If it wasn't for Auron deciding to take a flight to Vale to stay with Shyla for a bit, then he would have asked to borrow his truck. He sighed a bit. Not only was it his first time away from Alyss, but it would be the first time he'd be away from his whole team. He felt the same feeling that he felt when he moved to Vale for Beacon. He felt that they were all a second family, or a new part of his own family, the latter of which being what Jace believed more.

Before he realized it, they were entering the small clearing where Tai's home stood. They stepped up to the door and Jace rapped on it a few times. After a few moments, the door opened and showed Yang.

"Umm, is this yours?" Jace asked her.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah... What in the hell happened?"

"He overheard Jace tell the guy at the booze store that he doesn't get drunk." Aulin answered her.

Yang laughed. "And he wanted proof?"

Jace nodded. "I tried to warn him."

"Take me to a fuckin' couch already!" Qrow yelled.

Yang took him off their hands and grinned. "Come on in for a bit. Rest your legs some."

Alex smiled. "Thanks. Carrying a drunk guy is pretty tiring."

* * *

"I thought you said you needed to do something _real quick_ ," Raine said to Jace when he returned to the inn later that day, "Not something that took real long."

Jace laughed. "Sorry about that. We met Ruby and Yang's uncle."

"And that took a few hours?" Hayley asked him.

Jace sat down, setting four bottles of different drinks down. Double-chocolate vodka, light chery-flavored bourbon, cherry vodka, and something called Black Sunshine Whiskey. "Well, he overheard me telling the store owner that I don't get drunk and he didn't believe me. The owner gave the idea of a drinking contest, and then I won and me and Alex carried Qrow, their uncle, to their house. Then we rested our feet there for a bit and talked to Yang and Weiss."

Everyone at the table laughed. "So you beat an old man in a drinking game?" Vivi asked and laughed again, "This one feels that you cheated."

"He warned him good enough," Aulin laughed, "He should've took it. It's on Qrow."

Jace laughed and grinned. "I _did_ try to warn him. I guess you guys know Auron and Shyla already headed out?"

"They came by and got their things earlier," Raine answered him, "They didn't tell us what happened."

"They probably just wanted to leave us to tell it," Jace said, "So, is my arm done?" He asked Hayley.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's fixed up. Fifty lien."

Jace took out his wallet and gave her the cards that added up to it. "Do you think you could maybe sell me this temporary one?" He asked her.

Hayley raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because maybe I should learn to take the main one off by myself if I ever need to do anything to it. Plus I need to just clean it myself more often anyway. Take Alyss' workload down, y'know."

Hayley thought about it for a few moments. "Okay, that makes sense. I won't sell you this one, but I'll make a new one. It'll basically be a simpler version of yours now. It'll have the feeling in the fingers and hands and the heating element in the shoulder, but it won't be made of Atlesian steel. It'll be a downgraded version, basically. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," Jace replied, "How much lien?"

"About a hundred and fifty."

Jace nodded. "I don't think I have all that much left after getting these drinks. Is it alright if I have dad send the pay?"

"Sounds fine to me."

"I'll be practicing with taking it off and putting it back on whenever I'm at home."

"Speaking of that," Raine looked at Aulin and Alex, "What are your plans? You didn't say anything when Auron asked the other day."

"I was gonna go and hang out with Bell. Spend some time with her for awhile." Aulin answered.

"I'm going with her," Alex said, "I mean, I wouldn't mind going back home. I just kinda wanna do more things with Aul before we go back to Beacon."

"If it wasn't for my arm needing maintenance, I would probably be with Aly right now." Jace said as Hayley began to detach his temporary prosthetic.

"This one doesn't think there is a flight scheduled to Atlas from here for a few days." Vivi said to Jace.

"Really?" Jace sighed, "Damn. I guess I wouldn't mind staying a couple more days. I just wanna go sleep in my own bed and help dad clean the house."

Vivi grinned. "If Raine wouldn't mind, I can let you have a ride on the Ranger airship."

"I would appreciate it, Vivi." Jace said.

"Why in the world do you _want_ to clean your house?" Hayley asked him, "People usually only clean because they _have_ to, not because they want to."

Jace shrugged, crossing his arms as he grew nervous. "Because Alyss' mom is gonna visit in a week or two and I want the house and penthouse to look nice because if things go nicely, she's basically gonna be my mother-in-law..."

* * *

Alyss yawned heavily as she woke up the next morning on the couch in the living room of Barrett's home. She looked around the floor and saw Zack and Sapphire laying on an inflatable mattress, sleeping closely together. She saw that the vidcaster was on the news channel. She turned a bit more and saw Evan sitting in his chair, watching the news with a smile on his face.

"G'morning." Alyss greeted tiredly.

"Mornin'," Evan greeted back, "I didn't expect you to fall asleep on us. You alright?"

"I kinda forgot to tell you that that might happen," Alyss yawned and blinked the sleep from her eyes some more, "I usually forget to tell people that. I go with more important details first. Did I help?"

"After you passed out, she said she didn't feel anything bad in her chest, like she felt relieved. Me an' Bear took her to the hospital while the others watched over you. They... Th-they said they couldn't find any more problems, an' she don't need her oxygen machine anymore."

"So I did it?" Alyss asked hopefully.

"E-everything looks cleared up now, s-so I guess you did. Lyla's just sleepin' everything off..." Evan's eyes began watering and leaking tears as he looked Alyss in the eyes, "If everything's okay now... I-I don't know how to thank you."

Alyss smiled. "You don't have to thank me. I'm just glad everything will hopefully be better for Lyla."

"It's definitely lookin' up now. All thanks to you."

Alyss leaned back on the couch and checked her scroll. She saw that Jace had sent her a message the day before during the time she was using her semblance on Lyla.

 _'Okay so I kinda got into a drinking contest with Ruby and Yang's uncle and I won and now me and Alex have to carry him to their house.'_

Alyss started giggling after she read that, causing Evan to look at her curiously. "What's goin' on?"

"My boyfriend," Alyss snickered, "He got into a drinking contest yesterday with our friends' uncle and won because he can't get drunk. And he and his brother had to carry him to our friends' house."

Evan grinned. "Your boyfriend's somethin' else if he can't get drunk."

Alyss smiled widely at that. "He really is."


	42. Chapter 42: Separation Part Two

**Chapter Forty Two**

 **Separation Part Two**

Raine glanced out the window of the airship when the captain called that they were almost to Calm. She felt so tired. Not from lack of sleep, but all the traveling that summer just drained her of her energy. In a few weeks, she would be flying once more to the Ranger Gathering with her father, and then back to Vale to return to Beacon. She hoped she would be used to it by the next year because she wanted to do it again, to visit everyone's home for a week. It had been a fun time, especially when Vivi was with her.

"What did Jace mean that Alyss' mom would technically be his mother-in-law if things go right?" Hayley asked her, drawing her from her thoughts.

"He wants to be mated to Alyss," Raine answered her, "You know anything about it?"

"I'm sure sitcoms made it grander than what it really is," Hayley grinned, "I've heard it has something to do with a Mark or something."

"Yeah. It goes right here," Raine pointed to just below her right shoulder at the top of her chest, "Or on the other shoulder or really anywhere on it. It's something only Faunus can do, it's in our biology that humans don't have. It could be considered marriage, but it's a hell of a lot more."

"Huh... What makes it different?"

"Well, it all has to do with our aura..."

Raine spent the rest of the flight explaining to Hayley what mating and the Mark was. A mark to show the devotion and love between two Faunus. A way for two souls to be merged together in life. She went over everything with a smile on her face, glad to be helping a human understand something about her race. She explained how the Mark took shape in the second stage into something that held great meaning to the giver. It could be as simple as a small flower or as intricate as a spider web.

She also explained that two mates were very possesive of each other, and the dominance and submissive parts that come with Faunus instinct. She told Hayley that the dominant Faunus in a relationship between mates would be extremely angry if their mate was hurt, and that anger would not subside until their mate was safe and healed.

She explained the need for Hayley to watch herself around a Faunus in that situation, that their moods grow extremely volatile and thet would snap at anyone even if they were close friends. Raine told Hayley that it was one of the main reasons Faunus had been called animals in the first place. But even with that, Raine said that it was a beautiful thing to have between Faunus, and Hayley had agreed that it sounded great.

"I didn't think that much went in to mating..." Hayley remarked, "I mean, I always figured it was fake when their marks started glowing in the shows. So when a Faunus' aura goes through the Mark, it actually glows a bit with the mate's aura color?"

Raine nodded. "Right, but not as bright as those shows tell you. It's faint, but noticable. So now if you see a Faunus' shoulder glowing, you won't be confused."

"That's a good thing," Hayley said, then she cleared her throat a bit, "Personal question. Out of curiosity... who is the dominant one between you and Vivi?" She asked quietly.

"Umm..." Raine looked down as she felt the airship touch down in Calm, "We both are."

Hayley looked at her in confusion. "Really? This might seem like a dumb question, but how does that work?"

"It usually ends with a lot of scratches, bite marks, and ripped clothes on each end."

* * *

"Take off your boots and your coat and make yourself at home."

"So you live by yourself?" Auron asked Shyla as they stepped inside her apartment. She motioned for him to drop his bags off behind the couch and he did, then he took his boots off and then his duster and hat, putting them on the coat rack next to the door.

"Yeah, I'm by myself most of the time. Sometimes Amy comes over and stays a few days to keep me company. It gets pretty lonely by myself." Shyla answered him and they sat down on the couch in front of the vidcaster in the main room.

"Any problems with neighbors?"

"Nope. Sometimes there's some loud noises, but nothing bad or long lasting. They're pretty friendly too."

"This is the last day o' your break, so I guess I'm only stayin' for the day," Auron said, leaning back into the couch, "Gonna have to book a damn flight over to Anima soon. All this flyin' around is killin' me," He groaned, "My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, my head hurts, my knees hurt, my fuckin' finger hurts for some stupid reason. How do you deal with all the flyin?"

Shyla shrugged. "I got used to it a little while ago. You'll get better with it, I'm sure. Here, lay down, you big baby."

"You gonna give me a massage or somethin'?" Auron asked with a grin.

Shyla smiled. "That was my plan. Amy loves my massages, although I don't have any oil to use. She says it's good without it though."

Auron sighed. "That sounds pretty damn amazin' right now."

"Alright. Take off your shirt and lay down on your stomach."

Auron stood up and did as she ordered, tossing the red shirt onto the back of the couch. He unclipped his gun belt and laid it on the coffee table with his revolvers. He laid down on the couch as best he could with his tall frame. He had to keep his feet in the air as his knees pressed against the armrest. He laid his head in his arms and looked at the vidcaster as Shyla turned it on to some cartoon.

"Oh hey, I remember this from when I was a kid," Auron grinned. It was a show about a little purple dog, scared out of his mind most of the time, "I liked it, but half the shit in it freaked me the hell out. Felt sorry for that lil' dog."

Shyla laughed as she made herself more comfortable, throwing off her shirt and her pants and staying in her underwear, her medium-large breasts gaining more of Auron's attention. "Don't laugh, but I love watching these cartoons. They just have my attention more than a lot of other shows unless it's about guns. I like anime too. You know what that is?"

"Ain't it basically cartoons but with more of an artistic style an' it sometimes has more violence?"

"I... guess you could say that."

"Yeah, Jace got Alyss into it. They watch some stuff on their scrolls sometimes. Also, why'd you get half naked? It's nice."

"Umm..." Shyla shrugged a bit, "I'm just more comfortable this way. Sometimes clothes are annoying. I'm keeping my bra on for the sake of decency."

"If it makes ya more comfortable, then go ahead an' take it off," Auron told her, "Don't stay uncomfortable for my sake. I don't mind, even if it might be a bit awkward for me for a bit."

Shyla gave him another smile. "That's one of the reasons I love you, Auron," She said and unclasped her bra, "You don't know how good this feels to not be wearing a bra after a long flight." She tossed it to join her other clothes.

"So I've heard." Auron grinned, trying to keep his eyes glued to the vidcaster so he wouldn't just be staring at his girlfriend.

Shyla walked over and climbed on top of him, straddling his back. She laid her hands on him and paused. "Alright. Where do you want me to start?"

"Shoulders, preferably," Auron answered, "Up more toward my neck. Don't be afraid to use all the pressure you feel you need to."

"Okay. Just relax as best you can." She said and started pressing and squeezing her fingers and hands into his shoulders and neck

Auron _moaned_ a bit and chuckled. "I feel pretty relaxed with you on top of me."

"Oh really?" Shyla giggled, "Maybe I should be on top of you more often."

"I'm not opposed."

Shyla laughed a moment before she sighed. Auron heard the sigh and turned his neck to look up at her. "What's wrong, Shy?"

"I... I have a secret that I should probably tell you before something happens." Shyla answered him.

"Is somethin' wrong?" Auron asked in concern.

"Well... It's about mine and Amy's relationship."

"You didn't get in a fight, did ya?"

Shyla shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It's more... personal. You really need to know."

"I'm all ears. Just get it off your chest."

"You know how I said Amy is bi, right?" Shyla asked.

"Yeah, I remember."

"And I'm not. Amy's kinda insecure after what happened with that guy on the street. Well... she's _really_ insecure. You know I've known her my whole life since we met at school when we were kids. Since a few years ago, I've always comforted her after she broke up with someone. And lately, I've been comforting her more and more since that night she was shot. She felt so bad about having to go through physical therapy almost every week and she says it makes her feel useless and ugly. And I've been comforting her since I've met you."

"Okay, I can understand you wantin' to be a good friend. What exactly is wrong with that?" Auron asked in confusion.

"W-well... It's not the most... _conventional_ way of comforting a friend..." Shyla said nervously.

"Hang on. Let's pause on this massage," Auron said and she stopped, "Let's talk about this first so we ain't distracted."

"Okay..." Shyla stepped off of him and he sat up on the couch, and she sat next to him, putting a bit of distance between them.

"Alright. Now you should be able to just focus on this." Auron said.

Shyla smiled a bit. "There's that consideration again..." She sighed, "Sometimes, Amy would text me and say she's coming over. When she got here, I saw her almost ready to cry her eyes out, and then she would just let it all out. We'd talk for a bit, she'd vent about what's wrong, I'd talk everything over with her... and then I took her to the bedroom... I-I'd do anything to make her feel loved. We'd snuggle and I'd kiss her and... w-we'd have sex..."

Auron tilted his head. "So... even though you're straight, you'd still have sex with her?" He asked and she nodded slowly.

"I just wanted to help her... Make her feel like she mattered, make her not feel useless and I'd go against my own sexuality just to do it. And I'm not confused at all. I _know_ I'm straight. She's my best friend and I don't wanna see her hurting and even though it was only for one night at a time when it happened, she felt better the next day and we didn't talk about it. A-and I even did it after I started dating you..." She said quietly.

Auron pursed his lips. "So..." He hated the thought he was about to voice, "technically, you... cheated on me?"

Shyla nodded slowly. "Yeah... It's been nagging at me and I've been feeling horrible about it. I don't want to hurt you... a-and I don't want Amy to suffer when she gets like that..."

Auron sighed. "Honestly... the only thing that hurts is that you didn't talk with me about it." He said lowly.

"H-how would I even bring it up to ask...?" Shyla said quietly, "I-I'm sorry, Auron... I'm sorry..."

Auron thought about what Shyla told him for a few minutes, going over it all in his head. The silence was deafening, even with the sounds of the cartoon on the vidcaster. When his mind settled from all the different thoughts and feelings in him, he gave a small sigh. "Either way... I forgive ya."

"You... forgive me?" Shyla asked with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah," Auron smiled encouragingly, "You only did that to comfort your friend an' you never meant to hurt me. You've been doin' that a lot longer for her than when we started datin'. It wouldn't be right o' me to cause that to stop an' cause her to not come to you with her problems. You do whatever you have to to make her feel better, an' I like that about you. Only thing I'm annoyed with is that you didn't talk to me sooner, but fuck it. If Amy needs it, you be there for her however you've been doin' it."

"S-so... you're okay with me doing that?" Shyla asked, "E-even if I'm basically cheating on you?"

Auron shrugged. "Ain't cheatin" if we got a relationship only open between you an' her."

Shyla closed the distance on the couch and hugged him tightly. "Gods, you're so damn awesome, Aure."

Auron grinned and hugged back. "I don't like seein' you like this, like when you told me about what you thought o' the Faunus before. When you brought it up, I could tell it was eatin' ya inside. You wanna call her over an' let her know what we talked about?"

Shyla nodded against the side of his head. "That would be best. She's been worried about this too, hoping it wouldn't drive a wedge between me and you. I'll text her. Then while we wait, I'm giving you that massage."

* * *

"Sapphire is mated now?" Nia asked Raine with a smile.

Raine nodded. "Yeah, she is. I'm still really surprised that I didn't know she was my cousin."

Nia nodded. "You two never really met before recently. It's not that Topaz and I wanted to keep it from you. It's just that we haven't seen each other in years and the last time you and Sapphire would've met was when you were babies."

"Well, at least we know now. It was nice to find it out." Raine said and sighed as she laid down on the couch.

"Not used to flying?" Nia asked.

"Not really. I didn't think the fatigue would hit me so hard. Where's dad?"

"He's patrolling around the forests for Stalkers."

"They're still a problem?"

"No, not from what he said. He said that Remington and the council just want to make sure."

Raine _hummed_ and put her forearm over her forehead. "Flying is so tiring. Are you fixing anything for dinner?"

Nia thought about it for a few moments. "I was thinking of just frying eggs today. I'll plan something more for tomorrow though."

"That's fine with me," Raine replied and closed her eyes against the light of the room, "Alyss texted me when I was on my way over. She healed our friend's mom's heart problems."

"Really?" Nia smiled, "That girl is dedicated to her goal."

"She really is. How's Saint been?"

"Every time I pass him on the street with his family, he seems so much happier," Nia answered her, "It's nice to see. Everyone praises her kindness. It's rare when I go a day without hearing Alyss' name mentioned by someone. She's a celebrity here."

Raine laughed. "Gods, I can't imagine the crowds when she comes back. We may need to hide her."

Nia grinned at that. "I know she doesn't want the attention from it. I just hope people don't hurt themselves trying to meet her."

"I would hope no one would be that dumb. They can just walk up and talk to her if they wanted."

Nia nodded. "How's everything with Vivi?"

"It's lonely without her," Raine sighed, "She's gonna be here later. She gave Jace a ride to Atlas on a Ranger airship."

"Okay, but how are things going between you?"

"Really good. It's awesome when I'm around her because she just makes me really happy," Raine bit her lip and opened her eyes, "I've been thinking..."

Nia raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"Well... I'm kinda surrounded by mated Faunus or Faunus that are about to be mated..." Raine said, "I know it seems like I'm just being jealous but I'm not. I mean, I guess I kinda am, but... I've been doing a lot of thinking and I want to be mated with Vivi."

"You do?" Nia asked.

"I really do, mom."

"If you think she's the one, then go for it!" Nia encouraged her excitedly.

Raine looked at her in surprise. "Really? You're not gonna tell me to wait or think even more?"

Nia shook her head. "No, I'm not. I trust you to think about big decisions like this really thoroughly, and I don't doubt you've thought a lot about this. This is what you want to do, pup. Make yourself even more happy than what you are with just being with her."

Raine smiled widely at what she heard. "Are you not gonna say anything about how I'm growing up on you?"

"You'll get enough of that from Halt and Gil."

Raine laughed. "Yeah... Now the only problem is when to ask."

"It'll be fine. Just tell her when you're comfortable."

Raine nodded. "Yeah... I'll try to."

The room went into a comfortable silence as Nia went to prepare dinner. Raine closed her eyes again and sighed quietly. "I hate flying..." She muttered, then she just laid there until her mother finished with dinner and she ate. Then, she laid back down on the couch and dozed off.

An hour later, Raine was woken up by something poking her on the cheek. She opened her eyes up and saw a blue and black striped tail in her face, the sight making her smile. Her tail brushed across her lips and Raine opened her mouth, catching it lightly in her lips.

Vivi _hummed_ at the feeling. "You know, you shouldn't stay asleep all day." She told her with a grin.

Raine let go of her tail. "I'm really tired though..." She pouted, "Please?"

"Hmm..." Vivi thought about it for a moment as she sat down next to Raine, "This one is pretty tired from flying straight to Atlas and then to here. Can she lay with you, Little Fox?"

"Of course, Big Kitty."

Raine scooted against the back of the couch and Vivi laid down, pressing her back against her. Raine wrapped her arms around Vivi's larger body and sighed contently as she pulled Vivi tighter to her.

Nia giggled from her seat. "Isn't the bigger one supposed to be big spoon?"

"We take turns so it's more fair." Raine said, unable to see her mother from her position behind Vivi.

"This one thinks it evens out." Vivi said.

"Do you two plan to stay here the whole time?" Nia asked them both.

"Well, I'm only here for a few days, then I'm going to Vale to return to work," Vivi answered her, "For now, I just want to relax alone with Raine."

"We'll probably make a trip back to those ruins in a couple days," Raine said with a grin that the other two couldn't see, "I'll save details of why."

Nia laughed. "Good thing I won't have to throw you both out for a night, then."

"When's dad supposed to be back?" Raine asked.

"In three days, I think. He's been gone for two weeks. I planned on taking him out to dinner in the village and help him relax before the Gathering."

"Sounds nice," Vivi said, "How exactly do you plan on helping him relax?"

Nia shrugged. "Nothing much, really. I'm going to keep him from doing much work around the house and do some other things for him. He needs to relax after working so hard lately."

Raine chuckled. "He just wants to make sure you're safe."

"I know, I know..." Nia smiled, "Sometimes I think he just works too hard though."

* * *

A knock on the door of Shyla's apartment caused her to stop massaging Auron's back. "That's probably Amy." Shyla said and stepped off of Auron.

Auron sat up on the couch as Shyla put Auron's shirt on, covering everything down to her thighs. She went over to the door and opened it up, revealing her friend. She had wavy black hair, parted evenly and reaching her shoulders. Her eyes were orange, looking at her friend in worry and guilt. She was five feet and seven inches tall, an inch shorter than Shyla with a slightly smaller bust.

"Hey Shy." Amy greeted her.

"Hi Amy. Come on in and actually meet Auron." Shyla said and led her inside.

Amy took her shoes off at the door and she waved at Auron. "Hey there. I'm Amethyst. Call me Amy."

"Howdy. I'm Auron Karmine," Auron introduced himself, "Good to meetcha."

Amy nodded and sat down on the couch next to Shyla when she sat down, who had returned to being topless. "Amy, I'm not gonna beat around the bush... I talked to Auron about what we've been doing."

"You did?" Amy asked in fear of what was going to happen, "O-oh... I guess it would come out sooner or later..." She looked past Shyla and caught Auron's gaze, "I'm so sorry, Auron! I never meant for Shy to just cheat on you because I can't handle my-"

"Hang on now. Calm down, Amy," Auron told her and Amy stopped, immediately sinking back into the couch, "I want you to listen to everything I gotta say before you say somethin', alright?"

"Okay..." Amy said quietly.

"Shyla explained everything to me about how she comforted you in her own way," Auron started, holding Shyla's hand, "About how bad you get to feelin' sometimes an' the sex you two had. I said that it wouldn't be right if I caused that to stop an' that caused you to suffer like she said you've been since that happened to you on the street. I know you probably don't want that brought up, but I had to say that she told me. The only thing that bothers me about this is how she didn't tell me sooner..."

"I told her what I'm about to tell you. I want Shyla to do whatever she needs to to make you feel better. If you need it, I don't mind for her to be there for you however she's been doin' it. I'm sayin' it right now that I don't care if she has sex with you if you need comfort. I just want Shy to let me know if it happens so nothin's kept from each other. I'd say we got an open relationship only between you an her when you need it."

"And it's only gonna be you," Shyla smiled at her friend, "I love Auron, but I'll do whatever I can to make you feel better, and he's okay with how I do it."

"I'm not gonna lie. This is a weird situation," Auron continued, "I don't really know what all to say about it, but I ain't mad at you, Amy. If I was less rational, then I probably wouldn't wanna be talkin' right now. So you two can keep what you got goin' without feelin' like shit about it like what Shy said you felt like."

Amy sat there for a full minute as she went over what Auron said in her mind. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words to say as she played with her hands in her lap.

"Y-you really don't mind this when it happens?" She asked Auron.

"I don't mind," Auron affirmed, "It's not like you can help how you feel at certain times. Like I said, it ain't right o' me to stop that even if I'm datin' Shy now. She's been helpin' you with this since before we even met. You call her when you need her."

Shyla kissed him on the lips, then she looked to Amy. "You see why I love him? Has so considerate and nice."

Amy nodded almost numbly. "I see that. I'm surprised this turned out so well..."

"I don't mean to completely switch gears here," Auron cleared his throat, "but can you go back to massagin' my back?" He asked Shyla.

She nodded. "Yeah, I can. Amy, do you care to move over to the chair?" She asked her friend.

"Sure..." Amy replied and moved to an unoccupied chair near the couch, "I hope I can find a good person to be with soon. I don't want to have to keep relying on you, Shy."

"You can take all the time you need," Shyla told her as Auron laid down and she straddled his back again, "There's no rush. Until you can find someone to be with that will stay with you, then I'll be here like I always have been."

"You just gotta keep movin' forward," Auron said, "My team leader did after he lost his arm. It ain't the same thing, but the point still stands. Keep on tryin' an' you're bound to find a guy or girl that'll stick with you. Until then, you still got Shy to help out. Don't you worry about what I think anymore."

"Thank you, Auron," Amy said with a smile, "I really appreciate what you're letting happen even though you hardly know me at all."

Auron grinned. "As long as Shy's best friend is happy. And don't worry, this is stayin' between us three. I ain't tellin' a soul unless you both say I can."

Shyla leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek before she started massaging his back muscles like before. "You're the best, Aure."

* * *

"So the arm's done for him?" Raine asked Hayley when the mechanic handed her a long box a few days later.

"Yep." Hayley answered her.

"That didn't take too long." Vivi remarked.

Hayley shrugged. "It's a bit easier working with regular steel. Plus I had this extra on the back burner while I worked on more pressing orders, so I finished it up like I told Jace it would be. Still waterproof too. Get that to him when you both get back to Beacon."

Raine nodded. "Okay. Did his dad send the lien?"

"Yeah, he did. I'm gonna get some sleep now. I stayed up all night last night putting the final touches on the arm."

"Alright. See you later, Hayley." Raine said.

"Sleep tight." Vivi added.

The two Rangers left Hayley's home and walked through Calm. Like her mother said, Raine heard the mention of Alyss' name almost everywhere, especially in the marketplace. Raine decided to stop by the stand that sold cherry-flavored coffee to get a gift for her angel of a friend.

"Hello Raine. How is everything?" The woman at the stand asked.

"Really good. How about you, Remalia?" Raine asked in return.

"Same as always, which is good," Remalia replied, "What brings you lovely lovebirds over today?"

"You remember Alyss?" Raine asked.

"I do. The angel that everyone's been talking about. Hard not to forget her. I remember she bought some cherry coffee with her boyfriend when you all were here a few weeks ago."

Raine grinned. "I planned on buying a few cases for her if you have any. Have you thought about sending these to Vale to sell? They'd do great there."

Remalia shrugged. "Maybe someday. Probably get that dog Faunus lady to sell them."

"That's who Alyss get's her cherries from. You could do that as a way to pay her back, you know."

"Then I might just do it. So, how many cases do you want? I have ten left for the week."

"Hmm..." Raine thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe three would be good," Vivi suggested, "You know it isn't just going to be Alyss drinking them."

Raine laughed. "That's true. Yeah, I'll buy three. What is that, forty or fifty lien?" She asked Remalia.

"A hundred."

Vivi whistled. "That much?"

"It takes a good amount of effort to mix them up and get them in cans. I like to think it's my specialty." Remalia grinned.

Raine brought out the hundred lien and handed it to her. "Unlike Jace, I didn't spend close to two hundred on alcohol." She said with another laugh.

Remalia took the lien and set three cases of cherry coffee onto the stand, each holding twelve cans each. "There you go. When you see her, tell her the coffee lady said hi."

Raine nodded and grabbed the cases after she handed off the prosthetic to Vivi. "I will. See you later, Remalia."

"Bye-bye, lovebirds."

The two walked away and walked out of the market toward the front gates of the village. They stepped through them and walked through the path in the forest toward Raine's home. They walked slowly, listening to the wildlife in the trees around them.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like if your old team stayed in Beacon?" Vivi asked Raine.

"Sometimes," Raine replied truthfully, "Honestly, I'm glad they all left, as bad as it sounds. The group of friends I have is awesome, and Jace, Alyss, and Auron are my best friends along with Aulin. I might have known them in the future since they were going to Beacon, but I'm glad Nika and the others left. Plus Nika is dating Genesis, so she's happy now. I don't know how the others are doing. I kinda lost contact with them. Hopefully they're doing alright wherever they went."

"You don't have to feel bad for saying that," Vivi said with a smile, "You've got a team you connect with more and you all have pretty good teamwork. It worked out for the best."

Raine smiled. "Yeah, it really did."

They continued walking and arrived at Raine's home in another few minutes. They went inside and into the living room. Nia and Halt were there on the couch, with the former stroking and brushing the latter's tail.

"Is this what you meant by helping dad relax?" Raine asked her mother with a grin.

"Not exactly," Nia replied, "His tail just looked so unkempt and messy, so I'm fixing it."

"The feeling is very pleasurable," Halt said, his eyes closed as his mate continued brushing the red fur, "It might not be the same, but now I know why women like their hair being brushed by someone else. I'll do that for you later, Nia."

"That would be nice," Nia replied and turned to look at her daughter and her girlfriend, "What are your plans for today?"

"This one is only staying two more days," Vivi answered her, "Raine said she wanted to go to the river for a day or two."

"We were gonna drop this stuff off and then head back there unless you needed anything." Raine said.

"What exactly are you two carrying?" Halt asked them.

"Three cases of cherry coffee to give Alyss when I see her again." Raine answered.

"And this is a spare prosthetic for Jace." Vivi added.

"A spare? What for?" Halt asked.

"So he can take care of his main one better whenever he needs to. And to take Aly's workload down," Raine said and finally set the cases of coffee down behind the couch, "He said he was gonna try to learn to take it off and put it back on on his own."

Halt _hummed,_ at both the answer and at his tail being gently brushed. "I'm sure Alyss will like the coffee."

"She will." Raine grinned.

Vivi set the box containing the prosthetic down on the small table next to the couch. "How was the patrol, Halt?" She asked the veteran Ranger.

"Clear other than a few Beowulves and Ursai. No Stalkers in sight." Halt told her.

"Jace will be happy to hear that." Nia said.

Raine laughed. "I don't think he'll be completely happy until he kills one himself."

"I don't mean to rush you, but if you're going to the river then I'd go ahead and go before it gets too dark," Halt said to Raine and Vivi, "I don't care if you're Rangers or not. I don't want you going through the forest at night, even if it's so close to Calm."

"We _did_ plan on going soon, don't worry," Raine said, "We just stopped by to drop that stuff off and get some things. Namely spices, the axe, some bait, the grill, and our fishing rods. And to see if you needed anything before we headed out."

Halt nodded. "Alright. If you catch a big catfish like what Nia said Alex caught, then bring it back here."

"Okay. Well, we're gonna go. Have fun." Raine said and went to get her knapsack. She put a few small bottles of spices in it and then led Vivi out of the house.

When the door closed, Halt leaned his side against the back of the couch, closing his eyes. "This really does feel amazing."

"I can tell," Nia remarked, "Your tail is so pretty when it's brushed out."

"Isn't that the reason you wanted to go out with me when we first met?" Halt asked.

Nia giggled. "Yes, dear. Not because you were nice or that you stood up for me when you didn't know me. It was only because of your pretty tail."

"Y'know, your tail's nice too."

"But I don't have a..." Nia started, but then she laughed, shaking her head behind him, "Oh you are such a flirt."

Halt laughed, leaning backwards into her. He laid his head against her shoulder and they shared a short kiss. "I have to try when I'm actually here."

Nia smiled. "It's nice when you do. You know you don't have to worry about those two. They can handle themselves even if it's at night." She said and ran her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp a bit.

Halt nodded. "I know, but with what you told me Raine said, I don't want them taking unnecessary risks like walking through the forest at night. I want them to have a more relaxed time. I want Raine to be happy and if one of them is hurt, then she wouldn't be too happy. Anything can happen. You know that."

Nia sighed. "I know, and I accepted that knowing who I gave my Mark to and what our daughters wanted to do. It'll be okay. She'll be happy as long as she has her friends and as long as she has Vivi."

Halt nodded again. "I'm so proud of Raine and Emowyn, but I wish we didn't have to worry about them taking dangerous missions. That mission Raine, her team, and Aulin's team went on should've been simple, but what happened with Jace and then that Armaddon..."

Nia kissed him again. "Even though I worry, I know she'll be alright. It's just a parent's instinct to worry."

"I know that. I always hate making you worry too."

Nia sighed. "I think I need to try to stop worrying so much."

"Hey," Halt reached his hand up and cupped her cheek, "It just means you care."

"I suppose so..." Nia covered his hand with hers and smiled, "Maybe I should suggest a way to help us both relax on it."

Halt cocked an eyebrow. "And what do you suggest?"

Nia winked at him.


	43. Chapter 43: Linked

**Chapter Forty Three**

 **Linked**

"I've never seen you work so hard to clean."

"My girlfriend and her mom are coming over soon. Can you blame me for wanting the house to look nice?"

Haile laughed. "No, I can't," He said and kept sweeping in front of the front door, "I'm pretty excited to meet Lilith. Can't have the house be a mess."

"You're damn right we can't," Jace said and continued sweeping dust from around the couches into small piles, "Gen! How's the kitchen look!?" He called out toward the kitchen.

"Why would she even come in the kitchen!?" Genesis called back.

"Just tell me how it looks!"

"It's fine!" Genesis came out of the kitchen and set his broom against the wall, flexing his fingers, "I've never seen you so focused. When are they supposed to be here?"

"Two hours," Jace replied, "I'm going to the penthouse in a little bit to make sure it's clean. Also, don't fucking touch the pie in the fridge. Or my cherry vodka or Aly's cherry bourbon."

Genesis raised his hands defensively. "I never planned on it," He said with a grin, "Thanks for that double-chocolate vodka by the way. I plan on taking it with me when I go to Nika's later"

"I figured I could pay you back for that bottle I drunk back in Pyne," Jace grinned back, "I almost used all of my lien just for those."

"Well I'm glad you kept me in your thoughts too. I've never heard of Black Sunshine whiskey before," Haile laughed, "Must be pretty new. I think we made the house pretty spotless," He said, looking around the living room and glancing past the counter into the kitchen, "I hope Lilith is comfortable here."

"Me too." Jace agreed.

Genesis cocked an eyebrow. "What's gotten into you?" He asked, "I get why you want the house cleaned, but you're kinda going crazy with it. You've been working yourself half to death for the past few days."

Jace leaned his broom against the side of a couch and sat down. "Well... I hope she'll be my mother-in-law soon."

"Wait... Are you serious!?" Genesis exclaimed with a huge grin on his face, "You're actually gonna try to be Alyss' mate?"

Jace nodded. "I'd like to, yeah. It's like what you've said, Gen. I might regret it if I don't. What do you think, dad?" Jace asked his father, looking over to see tears trailing down his face, "Dad? What's wrong?"

Haile wiped at his eyes and smiled. "You're just... growing up so much from that little stray cat that I brought home... I didn't expect you to want to mate with a girl while you're still in Beacon. Now I'm actually starting to feel old." He laughed and went to sit down, running his fingers through his graying hair.

Jace and Genesis laughed at that. "You actually called yourself old," Genesis noted and laughed a bit more, "I know I kinda pushed to say that to you before but I expected that to happen a long way down the road, not so soon. I'm real happy for you, bro."

"So am I," Haile said, "Should anything be planned like a wedding or anything? Or does it just... happen?"

Jace shook his head. "No, nothing should be planned. And besides, I don't know if Alyss is even ready for mating. I'm gonna ask for sure."

"Gods, I don't know what to think other than how happy and proud I am," Haile leaned back in his seat and smiled, "I knew you two would make a cute couple."

Jace laughed. "Everyone else says the same thing."

"Didn't you say Sapphire and Zack are mated now?" Genesis asked and Jace nodded, "I guess that's really what got you to thinking, right?"

"Not really," Jace replied, "I really started thinking about it whenever we were all here and back at the clearing. I've been stuck on how to ask her."

"Yeah, this is a lot more complicated than just asking her out," Genesis chuckled, "You can't just ask, _"Hey, wanna be my mate?_ " It would not be that simple at all."

Jace shook his head. "No it would not."

After making sure things were fine and clean in the house, Jace hopped on _Titan_ and drove down the driveway. When he hit the road, he bolted toward the city as fast as the traffic allowed. He was a bundle of nerves the whole journey, not even paying any attention to the angry honking he recieved when he turned a bit in front of someone and then shot forward.

He arrived outside Dewdrop Penthouses and stopped in the parking lot across the street. He shut the engine off and stowed his helmet in its case, then he took _Legacy_ from its case, then he walked across the street. He was so nervous that he almost forgot to put his goggles back around his neck. He also didn't pay any mind to a remark he heard about his ears and tail from someone on the sidewalk.

He went straight for the elevator, taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

* * *

"Are you excited to be going to Atlas?" Alyss asked her mother on the airship.

"I am... but I am also scared in a way," Lilith admitted, fidgeting with a strap on her purse. She was wearing a black dress, a hole in the top of it showing the top of her chest and a bit of her cleavage. It extended all the way down to her calves. It had two long sleeves that covered the entirety of her arms. It was slit up the right side at the bottom, showing her long legs in a pair of sheer leggings that were laced with burn dust to help with the cold. The dress had purple hemming, and there were designs of leaves and vines along the slit and around her waist. She wore a pair of black Mistralian sandals, only ankle high.

Alyss smiled. "You don't have to be scared. You didn't have to dress up nice either."

"Well, I'm going to a kingdom that is infamous for the racism of its citizens. For the dress... I just felt like wearing it, really. It's been a long time since I've had a reason to bring it out."

"A lot of people won't say anything. They'll just glare at us. There are some that try to confront, but it's kinda rare for that to happen. If that happens, then it'll be alright since Jace and Haile will be with us," Alyss reached her hand up and rubbed her mother's ear, "Maybe this'll help calm your nerves."

Lilith leaned her head into the touch and started _purring_ very lightly. "It usually does. Just like for you."

"True."

"Do you plan on asking Jace soon?" Lilith asked quietly.

Alyss nodded. "Yeah. When we go to the clearing. I just hope I'm not rush-"

Lilith lightly flicked her on the nose with a finger. "Quit that. If you really think you're ready, then you _are_. You're only going to second guess yourself if you keep thinking like that. You've already thought about this and reached your decision. You _are not_ too young for it."

Alyss sighed. "Yeah... I'm just so nervous..."

Lilith grinned and reached a hand up to pet her ears, causing her to start _purring_. "Don't be. It _will_ turn out okay for you, cub."

Alyss _hummed_. "How exactly do you know?"

Lilith laughed. "I _am_ your mother, remember?"

Alyss sighed, then she laughed a bit. "How could I forget," She said and rolled her eyes, "I hope you're right that it'll go okay."

The airship descended toward Atlas and the captain told everyone to be prepared. Alyss looked out the window, trying to see if she could catch sight of Jace or Haile. She didn't guess she would after a moment when the side of the airship she was on turned toward the outside of the airdocks, and vehicles could only park near the entrance.

The ship landed and Alyss quickly jumped up, grabbing her bags. Lilith slowly rose with her and took her own in her hands with a groan.

"You okay?" Alyss asked her.

Lilith nodded. "I'm fine, sweetheart. Flying just makes me so tired and it makes my back hurt."

"You can rest at the penthouse for an hour or two. It's not too far away from here. Plus, the penthouse even has a jacuzzi. Haile said he never uses it. Maybe you can to help your back."

Lilith's expression brightened. "That sounds so lovely."

The two made their way out of the airship, politely sliding past people when they stepped through the doors. They hung to the side and waited for the small crowd to disperse, then Alyss saw Haile and Genesis standing next to the former's truck. The two waved at them and Alyss waved back as she slung one of her bags over her shoulder.

Alyss led her mother over to them both and looked around. "Where's Jace?" She asked them, "Wasn't he supposed to be here?"

"Hello to you too, Alyss." Haile grinned at her.

"Oh!" Alyss cleared her throat, "Hi Haile. Hi Gen. This is my mom. Mom, these two are Haile and Genesis. Jace's adoptive father and brother."

Lilith bowed her head. "Nice to meet you both. My name is Lilith. Thank you for inviting me to Atlas."

"It wasn't any trouble, miss." Haile said to her, bowing his head back to her.

"Just call me by my name, please. You don't need to be formal with me."

"Only if you don't be formal with me." Haile grinned.

Lilith smiled. "Deal."

"I guess I know where Alyss gets her beauty from now. You're very pretty."

"Thank you for the compliment, Haile. You... aren't trying to get me on a date, are you?" Lilith asked him nervously.

Haile shook his head. "No, I'm not. I compliment all my friends."

"You just met me and I'm already your friend?"

"If you'd like."

Lilith smiled again. "That would be nice. I haven't found many friends since we moved to Vale."

Haile nodded. "Then let me be your second friend from Atlas. And besides, I'm not a relationship person. Never tried that much after Beacon. Never worked out for me."

Lilith sighed. "I am staying out of intimate relationships. Ever since _he_ lost his mind..." She said sadly, "I don't want to be with anyone like that again."

"Don't talk about that," Haile told her, "I know how you feel about it after Alyss told me. Kick that out of your mind because as long as we're all here, Jace, Alyss, their team and friends, and even me and Gen now, you can relax. Don't stare too long into the sun that you forget the rest of the sky."

"Yeah," Genesis agreed, "I don't think Alyss wants to see you still torn up so bad over that. No one does. Me and dad don't and we just met you but it matters because you're already so important to Jace. You have to move your mind forward from that."

"They're right, mom," Alyss said quietly, "Just try to forget about him... I'm not saying you should try to find someone to be with. Just don't think about him. I'm trying to leave him in the past, so you should too."

Lilith sighed. "I can't keep that out of my mind for long... but I will try."

"You know Jace moved forward from what's happened to him."

"I know, cub."

"Jace told you too?" Genesis asked Lilith.

She shook her head. "He asked Aly to."

"Because he said he was tired of saying it," Alyss added, "I told her about you too."

Genesis nodded. "Well, with that stuff out of the way, it's good to meet you," He greeted the aging Faunus with a short wave, "You might have me to thank for Jace and Alyss dating. I kept telling Jace that he might regret It if he didn't ask."

Lilith laughed, joy returning to her voice. "Well thank you, Genesis. It's so nice seeing her happy with him."

Genesis grinned. "Just call me Gen. I would stay and hang out, but I'm heading to my girlfriend's apartment to stay for a week or so. I'm supposed to meet with her and her dad soon."

"Oh, okay then," Alyss gave him a short hug, "Good to at least see you while we were here."

Haile opened the back door of his truck and took their guests' bags. He put them in the back seat and shut the door, then he turned back to face the Faunus. "Okay, if you're both ready we can go now."

"I'm gonna go ahead and head out now too," Genesis said and went toward _Kimura_ on the other side of his truck, "You two cover your ears as best you can." He told the Alyss and Lilith.

They nodded and covered their cat ears, pressing them against their heads. Genesis started _Kimura_ and gave a short wave, then he drove away from the airdocks with two bags strapped to the motorcycle just behind him.

Lilith waited a moment more before she put her hands down. "What is it with your children and loud motorcycles?" She asked Haile with a small grin.

Haile shrugged and laughed. "I'm pretty sure if you ask Jace, then he'll show you. To answer Alyss' question, he's already at the penthouse making sure it's clean. Genesis built Jace's motorcycle and gave it to him when he went for Vale. And Gen recently got another one to fix up again for himself."

"It comes from a movie they like." Alyss grinned.

"Are you two ready to go?" Haile asked them.

"Yes, I am," Lilith answered him and cleared her throat, clasping her hands behind her, "Aly told me you have a jacuzzi... May I use it when we get there?"

Haile nodded. "Of course. At least someone will have a use for it."

* * *

"Here you go, Lunessia," Jace said and dropped a chunk of fish into the cat's food dish. She _meowed_ and walked over to it, then took the fish in her mouth, "That's all you're getting. The rest is for the noodles."

Lunessia just stared at him as she ate around on the fish. Jace shook his head and returned to mixing noodles in two large bowls. As he was putting different things in the bowls with the noodles, he heard the door opening and heard a few voices, smiling as he recognized one.

"Cook's in the kitchen if you're wondering!" Jace called out cheerfully.

"No one was!" His father laughed.

Alyss and Lilith came into the room first. "I was," Alyss said with a smile, "I missed you." She said and hugged him.

"I missed you too. Good job with Barrett's mom. I knew you could do it." Jace said and kissed her.

"So, what are you fixing?"

"Noodles with fish."

"Mmm. That sounds nice."

"Got a couple surprises at the house too." Jace told her.

"I look forward to it. Can we eat now?" Alyss asked.

"Aly, we should let Haile set our bags down first." Lilith told her with a grin and Haile did just that, dropping the bags on one of the couches.

Haile grinned. "We can stay here as long as you like. Also, meet Lunessia."

Lilith looked down to see the cat finishing the piece of fish. "I take it you slipped her something to eat?" She asked Jace.

Jace nodded and chuckled. "I can't say no to those eyes."

"Can I have a piece?" Alyss asked, tilting her head and staring into his ruby eyes with her emerald and sapphire, "Please?"

"Oh, what about me?" Lilith asked and looked at him with her piercing emerald eyes.

Jace looked through them both for a few moments, each set of eyes staring at him, almost boring into his soul. In a way, it made him freeze. He had thought before that Alyss' eyes could make him do anything she asked, and now he realized where she got those eyes from. They each flattened an ear out to the side, keeping the other standing straight up and that was Jace's breaking point.

He sighed and cut a large chunk of fish in half. He took a piece in each hand and held it to them. "Here. Do you want me to feed you too?"

The two didn't make any moves to take the fish and Jace sighed again. "You both are lucky you're so adorable," He said and put the pieces of fish in their waiting mouths as Haile laughed, "I expected this stuff from Alyss. Not you, mom."

Lilith _hummed_ as she chewed the fish. "I can't help but have a bit of fun every now and then."

Alyss quickly chewed and swallowed her fish and then she licked Jace's fingers a bit. "Thanks sweetie."

Jace grinned. "Any time, Pretty Kitty."

"Was I missing something when you called Lilith ' _mom_ '?" Haile asked his son.

"It's something I asked every one of Aly's friends to do," Lilith explained to him, "I grew fond of her old team calling me by that, so I asked her new friends to."

Haile nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember Jace saying something about that before."

"She's already been a great mother figure to me, so it really fits." Jace added.

"Aww, I'm happy you think that way, Jace." Lilith said with a smile to Jace.

"So, when can we eat?" Alyss asked Jace, "Because that smells amazing."

Jace looked back at the bowls. "In just a couple minutes. I still need to mix everything up better."

"And then I am using that jacuzzi." Lilith said, rubbing at her back

"Yeah, go ahead and sit down. Get comfortable and make yourself at home," Haile told her, "The couches are pretty soft. If you don't feel like traveling anymore today, then we can stay here for the night. We have enough beds."

Lilith nodded. "That sounds lovely. That airship ride was quite enough today."

She went and sat down with a relieved sigh. She slipped her sandals off her feet and brought them up onto the couch and rubbed the soreness out of them while she looked around the penthouse. "I have never been in a room like this before." She said in awe.

"This isn't even an expensive penthouse for Atlas' standards," Jace told her, "It's actually one of the cheapest."

"Really?" Lilith asked in disbelief, "This is so nice though."

"I only keep it because of the discount I'm getting," Haile said, sitting next to her on the couch, "I get it for about seventy or so percent off."

"Impressive."

"I know, right?" Alyss giggled, "It's what I thought when I first came here. And the room service is awesome."

"She was distracted too much by Lunessia," Jace said, "She barely paid any attention to anything."

Alyss laughed. "Jace was jealous that I was petting her instead of him."

"Is that true, Jace?" Lilith asked him.

Jace grumbled and finished mixing the noodles. "Food's done." He said, handing a bowl to Alyss.

He took the other bowl and handed it to Lilith, who took it gratefully. "Thank you, cub. This smells delicious."

"Cub?" Haile glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, "I heard you call Alyss that, but I thought it was just something you call her."

"Oh, it's what cat or bear Faunus usually call their children," Lilith explained, "Jace told me when we met how you never called him that because you didn't know. I decided to do that for him to be nice."

"Oh... If I would've known, I would've called him by that," Haile _hummed_ , "I guess I can try to start."

"Told you she was really nice." Jace told his father.

Haile chuckled. "I know... cub. It's gonna be weird saying that."

"And it'll be weird to hear you say it." Jace said.

Lilith _hummed_ happily as she took a bite of her noodles. "Oh this is very good, Jace. Did you take lessons from Auron?"

Jace laughed. "No, he has nothing to do with me fixing noodles. It's one of the very few things I can fix on my own."

"My time in Atlas is already very good. I am glad I decided to come." Lilith said with a smile.

"You haven't even got to the best part." Alyss grinned before taking a bite of her noodles.

"Is it the jacuzzi bath I was promised?"

"Not even close, mom."

* * *

They stayed at the penthouse to let Lilith rest up for the night. Even though she felt rejuvenated by the soothing jets of the jacuzzi, she still felt tired and they did not venture outside the city. The next morning, they all traveled to Haile's home.

"This looks like a lovely home." Lilith said as she stepped out of Haile's truck holding Lunessia, wearing more casual clothes than the day before.

"I had it built out here to get away from the city," Haile told her, "I got the penthouse for a place to stay if I needed to be in the city for a few days. It works out nicely."

"I would say it does."

"It's really peaceful here," Alyss told her mother as she stored her helmet, "I can't hear anything on the road at all. When do you wanna see the clearing?"

"Maybe tomorrow," Lilith answered her, "I honestly just feel like sitting around and napping today. This house looks so cozy."

"I was the same way as a kid," Jace said with a grin, "I just wanted to nap a lot."

"I wouldn't have guessed that for how active you are." Lilith remarked.

"He's not very active when we're together," Alyss grinned, "You've seen us just lay on the couch and not do anything."

"That's true. You can both be such lazy cubs like Lunessia." Lilith said, stroking the cat's fur.

Haile and Jace grabbed the women's bags from the truck and shut the doors. "Let's get you two inside before your ears freeze off." Haile said and led them into his home.

He immediately switched on the lights and the heat, slowly warming up the house. "Welcome to our home, Lilith. Make yourself comfortable."

Lilith nodded. "Thank you, Haile. Do you happen to have any grapes?"

Haile grinned. "I do. Thank Jace. He told me and I ordered some from Calm. Paid more for an airship to send it over."

Lilith smiled and turned to Jace. "Thank you, cub. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to be nice and tell dad because I guessed he wanted to be nice too." Jace said.

"May I have a few?" Lilith asked Haile.

Haile nodded. "I got them for you, so yes. I'll be back in a second," He said and went to the kitchen, "Do you want to give Aly her surprise now, Jace?"

"That's for when we go to the clearing," Jace replied, "I'll be back in a minute. I gotta give something back." He said and left for upstairs.

Alyss quickly stood by his side. "I'm coming too."

Lilith laughed. "Sticking by your kitten while you're with him, dear?"

Alyss nodded. "Yeah. It's been like two weeks and it was so weird."

"I was able to keep myself busy," Jace said, "Oh! I have to show you something cool too. I'm really proud of it."

"Really?" Alyss asked as the two made their way up the stairs, "What is it."

"I can take my arm off and put it back on by myself," Jace said excitedly when they reached the top of the stairs, "It was really tricky at first, but I got the hang of it. It takes me maybe two minutes at the fastest."

"Does that mean you don't need me anymore?" Alyss asked, taking a hurt tone.

Jace leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Well... I might not _need_ you to do it, but I want you to because of the oil massages you give it and it feels awesome. I just wanna take your workload down some."

Alyss smiled. "We can take turns."

"Sounds good. I got a text from Raine a couple days ago and Hayley got the temporary made. She'll give it to me when I see her at Beacon. She also has a surprise for you."

"Really?" Alyss asked, "Does everyone have a surprise for me or something?"

Jace shrugged. "I dunno. You have it nice."

"I'm back with you, so yeah, I have it nice." Alyss replied and kissed his cheek.

Jace cocked an eyebrow. "And people give me crap for being sappy?"

Alyss giggled. "Do you not agree though?"

Jace grinned. "Yeah, I have it nice too. Gods, it's been weird without you."

They went into his room and Jace went to his desk. He picked up the submachine gun and harness and handed it to Alyss. "There you go. Cleaned from devil-sand as promised."

"Devil-sand?" Alyss asked, taking hold of _Soul Leaf_.

"I seriously really hate sand now."

"Aww, poor Kitten," Alyss laughed, "You shouldn't have to deal with sand any more. Maybe once a year unless we go to Vacuo next summer."

Jace looked straight ahead and huffed loudly. "I'm gonna have to get a bandanna or some ear protectors."

* * *

"A-Alyss h-has improved so much s-since she started t-t-training..." Lilith remarked nervously the next day, sitting in the passenger seat of Haile's truck.

"So has Jace," Haile said from behind the steering wheel as Jace dispatched a Beowulf with a heavy slash of _Legacy_ , cutting the head off, "I need to tell you the story of his dodging issues."

Haile kept Lilith company inside the truck while Jace and Alyss dealt with the little amount of Grimm that came. Lilith was nervous and scared about that, more scared than anything She had never seen a Grimm up close like that, and she was sure her fear just attracted more of them that were watching from the trees, just waiting to strike. She needed something to hold on to, something that had warmth that wasn't the grip on the roof, so she held Haile's hand tightly as her eyes darted back and forth between the Grimm and her cub.

Haile didn't mind it. He let her squeeze his hand as tight as she could. She was a civilian, _that_ close to Grimm that her daughter was fighting. He knew she didn't know much of what Grimm exactly looked like or even _were_ except for things on the news. If it wasn't for that, then he would be fighting the Grimm with the two Huntsmen-in-training, but someone had help to keep Lilith calm.

"You okay, sweetie?" Alyss asked Jace, jumping and spinning around a lunge by a Beowulf and bringing _Soul Leaf's_ blade into the back of its head.

"Oh I'm good,"Jace replied, sending _Legacy_ down multiple times into the last and head of the pack, a large Alpha Beowulf, "Just annoyed at myself."

Jace backed the Alpha right into a tree, keeping it there for a few moments. As _Legacy_ came down toward its head, it dove out of the way and the blade went into the tree. Before the Alpha could swing itself around, it met the blade of _Soul Leaf_ stabbing upwards into its mouth, going straight into its brain.

It slumped audibly onto the ground and Jace pulled _Legacy_ from the tree. "I swear, it's like these things just wait for us to come back here."

"It's usually just one group per trip, right?" Alyss asked, glancing back to the truck to see her mother's fear-stricken face, her eyes closed. She could see that she was breathing deeply, trying to calm herself down.

"Yeah. This should be it for a few weeks at least," Jace replied and the two shared a quick kiss, then they made their way back to the truck, "I should've came back here to take care of them before you both got here."

Alyss tapped on the window, the sound startling her mother. Lilith breathed a sigh of relief and clutched her chest and Haile's hand tightly. She rolled the window down, hit with the cold of the air.

"I-is it done?" She asked, her eyes shining with tears of fear.

"It's okay, mama. They're dead and we're almost there," Alyss assured her, "You can completely relax there all day and the Grimm won't bother us again. You okay?"

Lilith nodded shakily. "Y-yes... I-I believe so." She said and loosened her grip on Haile's hand.

"Okay. We're almost there." Alyss said once again and went to jump in the bed.

Jace gave Lilith a small grin. "We won't let anything hurt you, mom." He assured her and went to join Alyss.

Lilith gulped hard and rolled the window back up. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the headrest. "Th-thank Oum that is over..." She said, finally letting go of Haile's hand, "I-I never knew Grimm were s-so... _monstrous_..."

"That's what they are, sadly," Haile said and continued on down the path to the clearing, "It's the ugly truth of what they are and what the news glosses over. They don't want fear to spread. Civilians in the cities rarely ever see them, and that's how it should be..." He shook his head, "No... How it _should_ be is that Grimm didn't exist so no one had to live in fear."

"B-but... we have people like Alyss, Jace, and yourself to help keep us all safe," Lilith said, calmness finally returning to her, "I believe we will be okay."

Haile grinned a bit. "That's the goal."

After a few minutes, Haile parked the truck well within the boundaries of the clearing, next to the water of the pond. He shut the engine off and Lilith wordlessly exited the truck, looking around the area in wonder.

Alyss appeared next to her and Jace was right there. "Is it everything I said it was?" Alyss asked her.

"O-oh my..." Lilith said, unconciously smiling at just being there, "It is everything you said and more. Thank you again for inviting me, Haile." She said to Haile once more.

Haile smiled. "You're welcome, Lilith." He said and got Lunessia out of the back seat, setting her down on the ground. He knew she wouldn't wander off, and he knew she would just make her way into someone's lap, content to stay there for hours.

"Shall we get everything set up?" Jace asked everyone with a smile.

"That would be best," Haile replied, "We should at least let Lilith gawk around while sitting down."

He and Jace retrieved a large blanket from the bed and laid it out on the ground. Lilith slowly sat down and Lunessia did just as Haile thought, curling up in the aging Faunus' lap. Jace opened the back door, keeping a few things from Alyss' sight, and he grabbed a basket with their day's meal and laid the pie that he made a couple days prior on top of it. He also grabbed the cooler, then he laid them all in the middle of the blanket as Haile shut the door. Jace took a step away from everyone else and dropped to his knees, clasping his hands over his chest. He prayed for a few moments before he went over to join everyone else sitting down.

"This place is just so lovely," Lilith said, softly stroking Lunessia's fur, "I never imagined a place like this existed."

"Neither did I when I found it." Jace said.

"It's the most beautiful place I've ever been," Alyss added next, rubbing her head against Jace's shoulder, "It'll probably be the most beautiful place I'll ever see."

"Do you want to tell the story of Jace's dodging problems?" Lilith asked Haile.

"Oh gods..." Jace groaned.

Haile laughed. "Yeah. I'll tell you..."

Haile told Lilith and Alyss the problems Jace had a few years prior to that moment, and the solution that Genesis had thought of. He had finished and both cat Faunus were laughing merrily as Jace had a look of annoyance and a bit of longing on his face. They chose to eat after that. It was just a few bowls of noodles with chicken and raw fish fixed as Jace usually does it. They had finished it and ate the desert, which Alyss dug in to with almost no control as she ate several pieces of the cherry pie, leaving cream on her cheeks and lips that Jace cleaned off with kisses.

They stayed there for the whole day, chatting and laughing and enjoying their time in the serene clearing. When the sun went down, Lilith marveled with wide eyes at the transformation the area took with how the stone and the water glowed magnificent, and the fireflies had caught her and Lunessia's attention. She resisted the urge to chase after them, preferring to just sit there and bathe in the stone's energy.

"It will be a shame when I go back to Vale..." Lilith said in disappointment.

"You can come back any time you want," Haile told her, "Just let me know and I'll make sure I have no missions so I can keep you company."

Lilith nodded and smiled. "I would like that. Thank you."

Alyss tapped her on the knee and she looked at her. Alyss had a nervous look in her eyes now and Lilith smiled, only giving the barest hint of a nod. She turned back to Haile and tapped him on the arm. "Would you mind taking me back? I'm feeling tired and I don't think sleeping on the ground would be good for a woman my age."

Haile nodded quickly. "Yeah, we can go back. I'm glad you like it here. And I'm glad Jace found it."

"He should give it a name sometime," Lilith said, "Since he found it, he needs to name it."

"I'll try to come up with something." Jace grinned and helped to gather everything up.

They put it all in the bed and Jace grabbed the sleeping bags for him and Alyss. "We'll be back sometime early tomorrow. And don't worry about the Grimm, mom," Jace said to Lilith, "They won't be along the path for another few weeks."

Lilith nodded. "Alright. Have a good night, you two." She said and got in the front passenger seat.

Jace opened the back door and retrieved a bottle and two glasses. "See you tomorrow, cub." Haile said with a grin to Jace as he started the engine.

Jace grinned back. "Still sounds weird coming from you."

He closed the door and stepped away, then Haile turned the truck around and drove from the clearing. Jace smiled and turned to see that Alyss was setting their sleeping bags out, unzipping and zipping them over and over until they were combined. She spread them out more and looked up, smiling at what Jace held.

"Is that my surprise?" She asked.

Jace nodded and they both sat down on the bags. Jace set the glasses down in front of them and opened the bottle of cherry bourbon, the smell making Alyss _mewl_ in anticipation. Jace poured both glasses near full and closed the bottle.

"I've been waiting for two weeks to drink this with you." Jace said as Alyss took a glass.

"How sweet," Alyss giggled and took a short drink, closing her eyes in pleasure as she _moaned_ , "Oh... This is awesome."

"I'm glad you like it," Jace said with a smile, "I won a drinking contest just so I could buy it."

"That poor man," Alyss laughed, "Was Yang mad you brought him to their house drunk?"

"She laughed her ass off." Jace laughed.

Alyss laughed a bit more and took another drink. "I wonder how many of these I can handle. It doesn't bother my throat at all."

"It's light, so you should be good," Jace said, "You won't be drinking the whole bottle, so I guess you'll be fine."

"Good. Hangovers suck."

"So I've heard. Y'know, this isn't the most common setting for something like this." Jace remarked.

"It might not be, but it's great," Alyss said, "It's leagues better than a candlelit dinner. I'd choose this over that any day. Way more romantic."

"Romance shows have nothing on this."

"No they don't." Alyss agreed with a short giggle, taking another drink.

"Dad and Lilith are really getting along." Jace remarked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"I hope Haile doesn't get his hopes up," Alyss said quietly, "My father ruined relationships for her. She really doesn't want anything like that anymore."

"It's the same with dad, so I wouldn't worry about that," Jace assured her, "I mean, he just doesn't want a relationship like that. I've never seen him try to date someone, and you heard what he said before. He was just never really interested."

Alyss nodded. "Well, if it wasn't for that, our relationship would be kinda weird right now." She laughed a bit.

"That's true." Jace agreed.

Alyss took another drink of her bourbon and set the glass down. She put her hands in her lap and bit her lip. "S-speaking of relationships..." She started nervously.

"What's on your mind, sweetie?" Jace asked softly.

"I've been thinking for such a long time about this... A-about our relationship." Alyss said quietly.

Jace gulped, turning his body toward her. "I didn't do anything to make you mad... did I?"

The fear in his voice made Alyss feel guilty. She could have worded that better. "No, you didn't do anything, Jace. It's okay."

Jace sighed in relief. "Thank Oum. I wouldn't know what I'd do if you were mad at me."

"I'm not mad. I promise," Alyss assured him with a smile, reaching over to squeeze his hand, "I was thinking about... going farther."

"Going farther?" Jace echoed in confusion, "Oh gods... D-do you mean you want..." He stopped himself as he looked into Alyss' eyes.

She nodded slowly. "Jace... I wanna be mated with you."

There was a few moments of silence from both of them, the only sound being from the stream leading into the pond. Without a word, Jace scooted closer to Alyss and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, careful not to spill their drinks on the sleeping bags.

"You really do?" Jace asked in disbelief.

"I do, Jace." Alyss answered and hugged back softly.

"Really?"

"Yes, Jace. I mean it," Alyss assured him, "Is it that hard to believe?"

"K-kinda, yeah..." Jace admitted, "I love you so much, but I didn't think I would ever be worthy of being your mate..."

"It's not a matter of worth," Alyss said, "It's a matter of love and I love you more than anything, so I wanna be your mate."

"I wanna be yours too," Jace said, hugging her a bit tighter, "I've been thinking since we were first here as a couple. You make me feel normal, Aly. I love you with all my soul for that."

Alyss smiled. "You wanna start now?"

"Here?" Jace asked, pulling back from her, "I dunno about that... Aren't we supposed-"

Alyss silenced him with a soft kiss. "Zack told me that him and Sapphire didn't have sex to get their Mark to take. He said if we really love each other, then it'll work."

"Okay... S-so... You wanna go first?" Jace asked.

Alyss nodded. "I can."

Jace took a deep breath and pulled his shirt off. Alyss held his hand and leaned in to kiss him, much more slowly this time. She pulled back and smiled, then she moved her mouth to his cheek, trailing short kisses down to his left shoulder, just below his collarbone and a bit away from the metal base of his prosthetic. She chose that shoulder to let Jace know that she truly didn't care that he had a prosthetic, as strange as it seemed. She kissed around his shoulder for a few moments and then opened her mouth more, lightly but firmly clamping her teeth down around the spot, feeling her fangs sink a bit into his skin. Then, she focused her aura and pulsed it through her mouth and over the bite as she simultaneously sucked hard on the skin.

The entire thing sent shivers down Jace's spine. The feeling of her lips on the area, her fangs planted in his shoulder, the pressure from how she sucked on his skin, and the warmth of her aura all made him shiver almost wildly.

After a few moments, Alyss pulled back and put her hand over the spot, pulsing a bit more aura over the spot. "S-so... That was that," She said, her eyes going between the spot and Jace's eyes, "You wanna go now?"

Jace nodded. "Yeah... I'll go," Jace said and kissed her, "Do you want it on the same shoulder, or..."

"It's your choice." Alyss told him.

Jace nodded and gave her a long, soft kiss. He pulled back and she took her shirt off, showing a dark-red bra that was the same color as Jace's aura. He grinned at that and leaned in to kiss her neck, then he slowly moved his lips down to under her right collarbone. He chose that shoulder because of how they have their ears pierced. Jace had the one in his right human ear and Alyss had hers in her left cat ear. Jace lavished the area with kisses before he slowly planted another to her lips with a smile. He returned back to the area and repeated the process that Alyss had done with him, and she shuddered and shivered under the feelings as he had.

After a few moments, Jace raised his head up and stared into Alyss' eyes as he ran his hand over the spot as she had, wiping away small trickles of blood. "Alyss... you mean so much to me. Just so, _so_ much," Jace said with a huge smile as his eyes watered, "More than anything in the world."

Alyss smiled back and kissed him once more, cupping his cheek in her hand. "I think the same of you. You make me feel safe, and you made me feel safe even before _he_ was caught. You just make me feel so safe and I don't think I can ever fully tell you how much I love you.

"You wanna know what would make this moment better?" Jace asked.

"What would that be?"

"Drinking this bourbon and having a scritching session."

"That sounds amazing."

* * *

Lilith bolted awake at a feeling she felt in her shoulder. It wasn't uncomfortable, just very noticable. She held her hand over it as she woke up fully, remembering she had taken a nap on the couch while Haile watched the news. She started smiling widely as she got up.

"What's going on?" Haile asked her curiously.

Lilith didn't answer, walking over to stand in front of the door. She dropped down to her hands and feet, the sight making Haile chuckle. She slowly swayed her backside back and forth in anticipation as she looked at the door. After a few moments, the door came open and she pounced, knocking both Jace and Alyss to the snow outside.

"Oh my Oum I am so happy for you both!" She exclaimed with tears shining in her eyes.

"H-how did you know?" Jace asked in shock as Lilith rose up off of them.

"I felt it when you both walked up to the door," Lilith said, putting her hand over her shoulder as Jace and Alyss rose up off the ground, "I can feel it more strongly since Alyss is my daughter and a bit of my aura is her aura," She turned to Alyss and smiled even more widely, "I told you it would work out, cub."

Alyss nodded. "You did. Thank you, mom."

"What exactly is going on?" Haile asked, coming over to see what the commotion was about.

"They're mated, Haile!" Lilith exclaimed, bouncing up and down in joy, "My cub is mated!"

Haile grinned at Jace. "Told you it would work out. Now get in here out of the cold."


	44. Chapter 44: Another Year

**Chapter Forty Four**

 **Another Year**

As the days of summer grew closer to ending, things were pleasant and peaceful in the Reznor household. Jace and Alyss were happier than ever, always taking time out of their days just to lay on a couch and nap, and Alyss took an hour or so every few days to give Jace's prosthetic an oil massage. Both Haile and Lilith watched them both, always with smiles on their faces that their children were mated. Even though Haile was human and had little understanding of mating, he knew their Mark as it was signified they were still dating. He also knew out of a gut feeling that he and Alyss would take that further some day.

"I can't wait to let everyone know." Alyss said and curled up more next to Jace under the cover on the couch to keep warm. She knew that Jace could just radiate heat when he wanted to and his house had a great heating system, but there was just something else about snuggling up to a lover under a good, soft comforter.

"Same," Jace said, pulling her closer to him and smiling at the contact, "It's gonna be fun to tell them all. You know Sapphire, Zack, and Heath are gonna be really happy to hear it."

"What about Genesis?" Alyss asked him.

Jace grinned. "I'll tell him when he gets back today. And Nika too if she's with him. I can't wait for the tournament to actually show everyone other than our friends at Beacon."

"Did they get more clingy with each other?" Haile asked Lilith with a grin as he watched the two on the couch.

Lilith nodded. "I believe they have. It makes me so happy to see."

"Me too. It's good seeing them so happy."

Jace and Alyss heard it and they both smiled. "What are you gonna do when we go back to Beacon, mom?" Alyss asked her mother.

"That's in two days, right?" Lilith asked and Alyss nodded, "I think I'll stay here for a bit longer. Atlas is surprisingly nice while in the company of a Huntsman with a large shotgun."

Haile laughed heartily for a few moments. "Oh I saw so many stares when we went to the mall. Lilith kept close to me and no one said a word."

"I think most people try to come after you if they think they're protected," Jace said, "Like when we were at that weapon exhibit. Those two people thought they were safe because they were the General's students. He probably wouldn't have blamed me if I fought them."

"You'd have been getting a scolding from Goodwitch for sure." Haile said.

"And me." Alyss added.

"And I'm happy I didn't." Jace said and kissed her cheek.

* * *

"Things goin' pretty good with Shyla?" Preacher asked Auron, only just able to visit after a tedious mission.

Auron grinned. "Really dang good, I think. She gives the best massages."

"Massages?" Kathy asked, sitting across from him at the dinner table, "Isn't the guy supposed to give the girl a massage?"

Auron just shrugged as his father laughed. "Is that against me askin' for massages lately?" Smoke asked his wife, "'Cause if ya want, I can give you some too."

"It was kind of about that," Kathy grinned, "I'm holding you to that, Jeff."

Smoke nodded and grinned back as Preacher cocked an eyebrow at Auron. "What in the world do you need a massage for?"

"All the flyin' I've been doin'," Auron answered, "It was torture on my back an' shoulders. Shy offered to do it when we were at her place in Vale. Ain't gettin' into too many details other than that."

"Other details?" Preacher asked, smirking at him.

"No." Auron said.

"Don't you start pressuring him, Preacher," Kathy chided the old Ranger, "It's their business. If he wants to tell, then he will. But he doesn't, so he doesn't have to."

"Thank you, mom," Auron thanked her, "It's private. I ain't tellin' anything to a lecherous old fart."

"Lecherous?" Preacher snorted, "Do you even know what that means?"

"Of course I know what it means. I wouldn't o' said it otherwise."

"He ain't lecherous," Smoke actually defended the Ranger with a grin, "He's just curious in what his nephew's doin'. Old people got a right to be curious."

"Well, you're on my side for once," Preacher remarked, ignoring the dig at his age, "Yeah, I'm just curious. I just wanna know if you're bein' safe."

"For the love of Oum," Auron sighed and grinned a bit, "It wasn't anything, really. She just walked around in her underwear to be more comfortable in her apartment after the flight."

"And she gave you a massage like that?" Kathy asked.

Auron nodded. "It was really nice."

"Do you plan on going back to Beacon with Bell, Aulin, and Alex?" Kathy asked him.

Auron nodded. "I planned on it. It ain't 'till later today though. Why?"

Kathy shrugged. "No reason."

* * *

Raine smiled as she sat at the long table in the center of the clearing where the Gathering took place. She was listening to one of the other Rangers retelling the events of his last mission he went on. He was most likely making it seem far more compelling than what it was, but Raine didn't care. It provided great entertainment for the meal everyone enjoyed at the table. After the man finished his tale, a few Rangers stepped up on the small stage with instruments in hand, except for one who went to a drum set. It was a band that they had formed and only performed for the Gatherings. They had all had history with the respective instruments they used.

"What did Kaiser plan on singing this year?" Raine asked those around her.

"He kept it all a surprise," A Ranger named Celeste answered her, her diamond colored eyes lighting up in anticipation, "I've heard rumors that one's gonna be a song called _Angel_. There's a few songs with that name, but I'm really hoping for a certain one."

"I'm not a fan of the original songs half the time," Emowyn remarked from her seat across from Raine, "But Kai and the others just put that softer spin on them that I love."

"You say that every year." Gilan laughed.

"And it never gets any less true."

"This one is excited to hear what they have this year." Vivi said, looking to the stage expectantly as she held Raine's hand.

"Be nice if they played some classics sometimes." Halt mumbled.

"Make some requests!" Raine told him, "You won't hear any songs you want unless you ask."

"He won't," Gilan grinned, "He complains but he never makes any moves to change anything."

"Shut the hell up, Gil." Halt said, rolling his eyes.

"Rangers!" Kaiser called through the microphone. He was five feet and eight inches tall. He had bright-lilac, joy-filled eyes and his hair was grass-green, wild and unruly as it reached his shoulders.

The entire clearing erupted in cheers at the deep and soft voice of the smaller Ranger. Kaiser grinned and raised his hand up in a wave. "I guess you're all doing good. First things first, I want to wish the new couple in our ranks a great time together. Raine, Vivi, have a good time." He said and more cheers came.

Raine hopped up on the table. "We already are in more ways than one!" She called out to him to a chorus of laughs.

"Did you really have to yell _that_ out?" Halt asked, cocking an eyebrow as his youngest daughter sat back down.

Raine shrugged as Vivi gave her a short kiss. "I had to be truthful."

"It's weird to think my little sis is doing those types of things." Emowyn laughed.

"How in the world do you think I feel being her father and she says that stuff..." Halt mumbled.

After Kaiser finished laughing, he stepped back up to the microphone. "Good to know that you keep busy. Anyway! The first song tonight is one called _Angel_. Enjoy."

As soon as he said that, the Ranger on the guitar, a lizard Faunus with slitted golden eyes and a long green-scaled tail, began strumming the strings as she opened the song.

"Oh! This is it!" Celeste cheered.

" _I'm in love with an angel, heaven forbid~ Made me a believer with the touch of her skin~..._ "

* * *

"So we basically get the same room? Just a floor higher?" Aulin asked Glynda as she gave her, Alex, Auron, and Bell the location of their rooms.

"Yes, miss Sylvana. Ozpin did not want students continuously getting confused, so he only moved your rooms up." Glynda answered her.

"Thank you, ma'am," Bell bowed her head to the headmaster's assistant, "Have a lovely day."

Glynda nodded. "You as well." She said and left them to go attend to other arriving students.

Auron picked his heavy trunk back up, holding it on his right shoulder. "I hate flyin'. My friggin' back hurts again."

"Shame that Shyla isn't here to give you a massage, huh?" Alex grinned at him.

"Hell yeah it's a shame," Auron replied, "Her massages are damn awesome."

Alex laughed. "I was just joking but okay."

Auron laughed as well. "It's true. She gave me a massage after we got to Vale a couple weeks ago and _damn_ , it was the best thing ever."

Aulin nudged his elbow. "What else went on between you two, _hmm_?"

"Nothin' you need to know." Auron told her, his mouth forming a grin.

"Oh come on, I need some details-"

"Aulin!" Bell chastised her with a short yell, "That is none of your business!"

Aulin just laughed loudly and walked on. "Whatever, Belly. We're goin' to sleep. See you guys later." She said, throwing them a wave as she pulled Alex along with her.

"Quit calling me that!" Bell called after her.

After receiving no response other than a laugh, Bell huffed and crossed her arms, but she couldn't keep a small smile from her face. "Do you really hate that name?" Auron asked her and they followed slowly after the two.

"That is not it. I _do_ like the nickname, but Aulin does not know that I think that. She calls me that because she thinks it gets under my skin, so I let her believe it. I did find it slightly annoying when she first started calling me that. I actually believe it is a cute nickname now."

Auron shrugged a bit. "I kinda agree with that."

The two went to their new dorm rooms and separated, going to drop their things off inside. Auron went back out and saw Pyrrha coming down the hall with two briefcases in her hands, so he decided to go and talk to her.

"Hey Pyr. Make it back okay?" He asked her.

She nodded. "I did. And you?"

"My back is killin' me." Auron groaned.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Auron shrugged and leaned against the wall outside her room. "I'll be glad to stay put for a long time. How'd all the trainin' go with Jaune?"

Pyrrha put her briefcases on the ground and grinned, a rare thing for her to actually do. It was usually just a smile or frown from her. "I believe he can make top ten this year."

Auron stood a bit straighter at hearing that, even though he was still leaning. "I don't mean nothin' bad, but that's a bold claim," Auron grinned back, "He was maybe number twenty last year. You think he'll be in top ten?"

"I do. He can hold his own against me now, but he still hasn't beaten me," Pyrrha said in pride, "I need to speak with headmaster Ozpin about using a sparring room to help with his training here. We used to do it on the rooftop."

"Yeah, you told me that before," Auron said, "Forgive me for pryin', but hows your progress with 'im personally?"

Pyrrha dropped her grin and just gave a normal smile. "Very good. Awesome, even."

Auron laughed. "It must be. You never use words like that."

"Well, I think things are going very awesomely," Pyrrha replied, pulling her long ponytail in front of her and playing with it a bit, "When Jaune arrives, we are going on a date."

"Really?" Auron asked, "He finally smarten up?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "I... may have only asked him to go to a restaurant with me over a scroll call."

"It's progress. I'll be shocked if he ain't gettin' a clue after that. You have fun with it, Pyr. I'm gonna go lay down."

Pyrrha nodded. "Alright then. I hope your back feels better for you."

* * *

Jace and Alyss arrived in Vale the next morning, and Jace was excited to say the least. It was a simple reason, though. He had called Glynda and asked if he could park his motorcycle on campus, and she said he could since he was now a second-year student.

He drove _Titan_ up the long road that led up to Beacon with Alyss holding his waist as always, learning the curves of the slanted road and he learned the parking lot behind the school's buildings. He found a nice parking spot under a tree next to the dorm building and shut the engine off.

"Glynda sent me a message." Alyss told Jace when they stepped off the motorcycle.

Jace stored both their helmets as Alyss unstrapped _Soul Leaf_ from the case. "What was it about?" He asked and retrieved _Legacy_.

"She said our things were delivered to our room." Alyss answered him. They both only had one duffle bag each, which hung off their sides as they rode _Titan_ up to Beacon.

"Good."

"And when I asked, she also said we basically have the same room as last year. Just up a floor."

"Hell yes!" Jace exclaimed, "I loved our big room. I'm glad we don't have to figure anything new out."

"I'm glad too. Except we have to do one thing different." Alyss told him.

"Pushing the beds together?" Jace asked with a grin.

"You know it. Also an extra long scritching session."

"Let's hurry to our room. Food can come later."

The two walked on and soon entered the dorm building. They bounded up a few flights of stairs to the third floor. There, they walked slowly down the hall, passing a few students along the way. Some were Faunus and they had waved and even smiled at them, and they smiled back.

"Wanna see if Aulin and the others are back?" Jace asked his mate, the thought still making him smile.

Alyss nodded. "Yeah. I guess Alex should know he's gonna have a sister-in-law."

"Probably. I wanna tell Blake when we see her too. I hope she had a good time in Menagerie."

"She went to Menagerie?" Alyss asked.

"She did the day you, Saph, Zack, Heath, and Barrett left Patch. She wanted to spend more time with her parents and Ruby wanted to get to know them more. Then I drank Qrow under a _bridge_ it was so bad."

Alyss giggled. "I wonder if he'll hold a grudge."

"I hope not," Jace laughed, "I didn't want to do it, but I had to to get that bourbon."

They first stopped by what they assumed to be team RWBY's dorm. Alyss rapped on it a few times with her knuckles and they heard some shuffling movements coming from inside. After a few moments, the door opened to show an already-smiling cat Faunus.

"Congratulations, you two," Blake told them both, "I was wondering who was outside our door when I felt that pressure."

"Thanks, Blake." Jace replied and they both smiled back.

"It feels wonderful." Alyss said.

"Hey guys!" Ruby cheered, stepping into view, "Everything good?"

"More than just good." Alyss answered her.

"I don't know if you know about it or not, but we're in the first stage of mating." Jace said.

"Mating?" Ruby asked, confused as a blush grew across her face, "Doesn't mating mean-"

"No, Ruby," Blake interrupted with a laugh, "I'll tell you sometime, but it's not _that_."

"How was home?" Jace asked Blake.

"It was... one of the best feelings I've ever felt to be back after what I did," Blake answered with a smaller, but equally genuine smile, "It was so good to see familiar faces and to have them talk to me like I never left. It was... awesome to be a family with mom and dad again."

"It was great to see her at peace like that," Ruby said and pecked Blake on the cheek, "Kuo Kuana was awesome. All the Faunus were really nice and there were a few humans living there too. I need to tell Aulin about that. Oh, and we hung out with Inu for a bit when he was there. His little sister is adorable."

"That's really good to hear from both of you," Alyss smiled, "I'm so glad you reconnected with them, Blake. You do seem a lot happier."

"I am. It's all because of Ruby." Blake replied.

"Have you talked to Ozpin about your ears?" Jace asked her.

Blake gulped, tensing up a bit. "Not yet... I was going to later after we got settled in."

"I know it's not the same, not even in the same kingdom, but..." Jace gave a grin, "If he didn't kick me out for losing my arm, then he won't kick you out for hiding your heritage. I have no doubt about that."

Blake sighed. "I don't know..."

"Don't worry, Blake," Ruby hugged her, "It'll be fine."

"We're gonna go to our room now," Jace said to the two, "We need to get things straightened out too. Namely our beds."

"We were working on that too." Ruby grinned.

"Great minds think alike." Jace laughed.

Jace and Alyss left them both to their business and walked on down the hall. After a few moments, they stopped in front of SLVR's room and knocked on the door.

The door was opened and Bell smiled at them. "Hello, you two. How was your vacation?"

"Really, _really_ great." Alyss answered her.

"Did Alex or Aulin tell you about the catfish they caught?" Jace asked.

"They told me that Alex caught it with his bare hands." Bell said in disbelief.

"It's true!" They heard Aulin whine from her and Alex's bed.

"It pulled us in the water and I just caught it," Alex said, "I swear it's the truth!"

"I am sure it is, Alex." Bell replied, rolling her eyes.

"Bell?" Alyss said, gaining the young priestess' attention again.

"Yes?" Bell asked. Alyss stayed silent and both she and Jace were grinning widely. Bell narrowed her eyes at them, "They were not lying, were they?"

"No, they weren't," Alyss said, "It's the truth."

Bell shook her head and chuckled. "Oh my. It seemed so unbelievable."

"Gonna make you think twice about doubting me, Belly." Aulin snickered.

Bell ignored her. "Is there a reason you both have bruises on your shoulders?" She asked the two Faunus at the door, noticing the bruises past their shirts' collars.

"We love each other a lot, that's why." Jace grinned.

Bell's eyebrow rose. "I could guess that much, Jace. But why in the exact same spot on opposite shoulders?"

"Well, Jace wasn't wrong," Alyss said with a short giggle, "We're mated. In the first stage, which is the equivalent to dating if our combined scents didn't tell other Faunus. But maybe in the future, we can move it up a stage and be engaged."

"Wait... Are you serious!?" Alex exclaimed and jumped up off the bed.

Jace laughed. "That's exactly what Gen said when I told him and dad I wanted to be Aly's mate."

"You both are really going to be... engaged? At your age?" Bell questioned them.

They nodded. "Mom told me that if I was really sure, then it isn't too early. And I was really, _really_ sure." Alyss said.

Bell started smiling more and she hugged them both. "I am so happy for you both. I hope for the best for you."

"I didn't expect to hear that," Aulin said with a grin, "Holy crap. I gotta get you both something."

"Who's the best man?" Alex asked Jace, "Since you say you're gonna be basically married. I mean, I doubt it would be me since you knew Gen-"

"There won't be a wedding like humans have," Alyss interrupted him, "When we're ready, we just move the Mark up a stage. That's the bruises."

"Oh..." Alex looked slightly deflated, "So it just... happens on your time?"

"Basically, yeah," Jace said, then he grinned and patted him on the shoulder, "When it happens, we can still go out and celebrate. You'll be the first to know."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Okay, now I think we should go to our room," Alyss said, "We told Blake and Ruby we were, but we wanted to see if you were back."

"Thank you for letting us know of your relationship," Bell said and smiled widely, "It is wonderful to see you both happy. Auron is back as well. He is already in your room resting his back."

The two nodded. "Okay. See you all later." Jace told them and they went to their room."

* * *

The last of team JKDW arrived later that day, closer to dusk. Raine stepped off the airship at Beacon with her weapon cases and two duffle bags over her shoulders. The cases had straps on them that she clipped to each other, which held them over her shoulders as she carried three cases of cherry-flavored coffee and her leader's temporary prosthetic. It was an amusing sight to see such a small-bodied person carrying so much, as Vivi noted earlier with a fit of laughs. Vivi accompanied her, protocol demanding she meet with Ozpin as soon as she arrived back in Vale from the Gathering. She would've joined her anyway even if it wasn't protocol.

"No more flying for half the year is gonna be great." Raine remarked as the two Rangers walked through the courtyard.

"This one thinks you maybe overdid it at the end," Vivi grinned, "You flew from Vale to Patch, then from Patch to Calm a few days later, then from Calm to the Gathering a week later, and then from the Gathering to here just three days later. That's a lot of flying."

"I know, but it was worth it for all the fun summer break was," Raine said with a smile, "Funner when you were with me."

Vivi bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "And being with you was the highlight of the last two months."

"Too bad we won't be able to be alone for awhile."

"I'll think of something," Vivi assured her, "I'm going on to meet Ozpin. Bye, Little Fox. Tell the others I said hi.

Raine nodded. "I will. Bye, Big Kitty." She said and the two shared a very slow kiss that was likely to be their last for awhile.

They separated and Vivi walked toward Beacon Tower. Raine sighed and walked toward the dorms, but her scroll buzzed in her pocket. She set the cases down and pulled her scroll out, seeing she received a message from Inuvali.

 _'Hold on, Raine. The ship I'm on is landing and I see you through the window.'_

Raine tilted her head. _'How in Oum's name can you recognize me?'_ She replied.

 _'I don't recall any other fox Faunus with red hair and black-tipped ears that usually comes back with two weapon cases on their back. Also, you're short. Easy identifier for you.'_

Raine chuckled and shook her head. _'Alright. I'll wait.'_

She decided to text her team, asking if they were back and Jace answered her, saying that they were all in their room. He told her where it was and she grinned, telling them she'd be there soon with a surprise for Alyss.

Soon, she saw Inuvali stepping out of the now-landed airship with a large backpack on his back. As always, he wore Orochi at his hip in its black sheath, and she noticed his hair had a small braid in it on the right side, hanging down over his normal ear with a silver feather sticking in the end hanging down.

Raine grinned. "Trying a new look for your hair? Looks pretty good to be honest."

Inuvali shook his head. "Vanille learned how to braid from one of her friends in school. I didn't have the heart to say no to her when she asked to braid my hair. She put the feather in to match my streak."

Raine laughed at that. "No one can say no to their little sister. Especially one as cute as Vanille."

Inuvali laughed as well. "That is very true. Do we need to meet with Glynda or Ozpin about our rooms?"

"Nope. We get to only move a floor up. Basically the same rooms."

"Good. No confusion. Do you want help with those?" Inuvali asked, pointing to the cases on the ground, "That is just way too much for a person your size to carry."

"No, I'm good," Raine answered him and picked the things back up, "I can carry this all day if I wanted to."

Inuvali shrugged. "Okay, but just don't strain yourself. Vivi wouldn't like that too well." He said with a grin.

Raine rolled her eyes and walked on, leaving him to catch up. "We both strain ourselves equally."

"You're taking too much after Aulin, Raine." Inuvali told her, shortly catching up to her.

"What? We both try to do equal amounts of work when we're together. Before the Gathering, we took turns fishing and grilling the fish and getting firewood. I didn't mean anything like _that_."

"Hmm. I guess I'm just bracing myself for Aulin."

"Oh you know you don't mind it."

"She was very endearing when we met. If it wasn't for her, I most likely wouldn't have been so quick to trust Bell or Barrett or Alex," Inuvali admitted, "Or Auron for that matter."

"Y'know, if it wasn't for me being set on Vivi so much, then I would've went on that date she asked me on when we met." Raine said.

"After you said you were lesbian, I honestly thought you were stupid to turn her down. But then I saw how you were when you talked about Vivi."

"Was I really _that_ bad at hiding my feelings for her?"

"Oh yes. You were horrible at it."

They entered the dorm building with Inuvali holding the doors open for Raine. He grinned. "I can at least do this for you."

Raine nodded. "Thanks. I don't want to drop this stuff."

"What even is it all?"

"Cherry coffee in the big cases and Jace's temporary prosthetic in the other."

"Hmm," Inuvali _hummed_ , "I suppose they'll be happy with that."

"Alyss better be happy," Raine laughed, "I spent a hundred lien on the coffee."

They reached their floor and took a short rest, then they walked down the hall. It was empty and they walked past rooms where they heard muffled voices, a few curses, and some shuffling of moving furniture. When they were close to Inuvali's stop, they stopped in their tracks.

"You goddamn serious!?" They heard Auron yell from Raine's room.

"What in the world is going on?" Inuvali asked in confusion.

"I have no idea." Raine replied.

A few seconds later, they saw Auron storming out of JKDW's room, keys in one hand as he put his hat on with the other.

"What's going on, Auron?" Raine asked him.

"I'm movin' my goddamn truck to the goddamn parkin' lot!" Auron said loudly, walking past them with a look of complete annoyance on his face, "Didn't fuckin' think to ask Glynda about this shit." He mumbled, the words clear to the two Faunus.

Raine laughed. "That's one way to start the new year off. A teammate yelling at the top of his lungs can wake you up."

"Bite me!" Auron yelled back, having heard the remark.

"Vivi only!" Raine called.

The door opened of Inuvali's room and Aulin poked her head out. "The hell was that about?"

"You didn't hear Auron yell his problem?" Inuvali asked her.

"It was about his truck, Aulin," Bell said just behind her, waving at Raine and Inuvali, "Welcome back. I like your braid, Inu. It looks nice."

"Thank Vanille when you can finally meet her," Inuvali told her with a grin, "She did it and I couldn't tell her no."

"Maybe I should try to braid Jace's hair," Alex laughed, "Being the younger sibling and all."

"You'd probably have to fight Alyss over it," Aulin told him, "She's been trying to get him to let her do it all day."

"I guessed they would be relaxing like they always do." Inuvali remarked.

Raine snorted. "You mean being lazy?"

"Either, or."

"I suppose we should let you get to your room with all of that," Bell said to Raine, "Have a good night, Raine."

Raine nodded. "You too. See you guys tomorrow."

She stepped down to the next door and knocked on it with her head. "I need the door opened. My hands are full. And Aly, don't pounce because I have fragile things."

After a few moments, the door opened to show Jace with a grin on his face and Alyss pouting and crossing her arms a few paces away. "Welcome back, Raine. We already got a few things set up."

Raine nodded. "Okay. I see you have your beds pushed together already." She said and stepped into the room to put everything on the table.

"Having a bigger bed is nice," Jace said, "We just need bigger sheets and covers."

"What's so fragile that you had to tell me not to be a cat?" Alyss asked Raine.

Raine smiled. "Well, I guess it can be a congratulatory gift for you now. C'mere," She requested and she stepped closer to her. Raine wrapped both Jace and Alyss in a hug, "I'm happy for you both. You really deserve to be happy."

"Thank you, Raine," Alyss replied as the two mates hugged back, "I'm glad to be happy with Jace and all the friends I have."

"Yeah," Jace agreed, "All of you are awesome and you're like family. Wouldn't trade it for anything."

"I'm glad you think of me like that," Raine said, "Now, as for that gift..." She stepped from them and turned to the things she brought, "Here you go, Jace." Raine handed the long box to Jace and he took it eagerly.

He opened it and grinned. "Looks just like mine."

"It's only steel, but it does everything yours does." Raine told him.

"Okay. It's only for when mine needs maintenance anyway." He said and went to put it on his desk.

"And Alyss, Remalia said hi. The cherry coffee lady," Raine said to the ash-blonde girl, "Here you go." She said and opened one of the cases and pulled out a can of coffee.

Alyss smiled widely. "Raine, you're awesome!" Alyss exclaimed, "Thank you so much!"

"Wanna know the best part? Remalia's gonna start sending them over for Caitlyn to sell as a way to pay you back."

"That's some of the best news I've heard this year," Alyss hugged Raine, "I'm gonna have to make it last until then."

"Good luck with that." Jace laughed.


	45. Chapter 45: Bonding

**Chapter Forty Five**

 **Third Act Finale**

 **Bonding**

 _One day earlie_ r

"See you later, Jace," Haile said to his departing son, "See you when the tournament rolls around. You know, unless you find another sibling."

Jace laughed and hugged him. "I think I'm good. Gen and Alex are enough for me."

"You just can't handle my wisdom and greatness." Genesis said with a smirk.

"I won't deny the wisdom part," Jace replied and hugged him, "You kinda pushed me to ask Alyss to the dance."

"Good that you realize it."

"Alright, mister _ego_ ," Jace laughed again, "Have fun in Atlas this year. Tell everyone I said hi."

Genesis nodded. "You got it."

"Bye, sweetheart," Lilith said to Alyss and hugged her tightly, "Have a good year. I can't say enough how happy I am for you." She kissed the top of Alyss' head.

"Thank you, mom. Thanks for giving me the confidence to ask," Alyss replied and returned the hug, "This is the best feeling ever."

Lilith smiled. "I would say it is with how you two have been even more inseperable lately."

They separated and Haile hugged Alyss as Lilith hugged Jace. "Take care of yourself, cub," Lilith told him, "And take care of Aly. I'm happy that you are part of my family now."

"Thanks, mom," Jace smiled, "I'm happy that you're kinda actually my mom too."

"I think the same of you, Alyss," Haile said to the young Faunus, "With how much you've done for Jace, you're family to me even if you didn't mate with him."

"I'm happy you think of me like that... dad." Alyss smiled as she said the word.

Haile grinned and hugged a bit more tightly. "You two be safe. If something bad happens, know that I'll come running."

"We'll try to make sure nothing bad does happen again." Alyss assured him.

"Wish me luck on our mission this year," Jace said to Haile, "Maybe we can get it done without the loss of my arm this time."

"Jace, that's horrible," Genesis laughed, "Get outta here before you miss your flight."

"Right," Jace sighed and grabbed his duffle bag off the floor, "You already had our other things sent to Beacon, right?" He asked Haile.

He nodded. "I did. Glynda will tell you when it gets to your room."

"Okay. I guess we'll see you all later." Jace said in farewell.

"Where's my hug?" Genesis asked Alyss with a grin.

Alyss laughed. "Fine," She stepped forward and gave him a hug, "Bye everyone. We'll let you know when we get to Beacon."

"Okay, dear," Lilith said, "Have a safe trip. I love you."

"Love you too, mom."

Jace and Alyss left and shut the door behind them. The three remaining in the house went to the couches and sat down. Haile turned on the vidcaster and turned it to the news.

"Huh. They finally finalized everything with that?" Genesis remarked at hearing that the kingdoms had agreed to start construction of railroads between each continent.

"It's gonna take years for that to finish. And Wretches, Krooks, and Sea Dragons are going to be a problem," Haile said thoughtfully, "Gonna be hard to protect the workers unless they have ships going alongside the construction work."

"Are you going to help protect them?" Lilith asked him, returning to her snack of grapes.

"If they put the job on the boards," Haile answered, "I'm keeping my ears open for anything."

"They could have missions for us," Genesis said, "It would make sense considering they're gonna start in the next few months. It'll either help protect while they build up supplies for it or protect them on the construction site. Maybe I might see you there, dad." He grinned at his father.

Haile shrugged. "That would be surprising, honestly. If I can, I might try to make rounds to every site to help out for a month or so. I don't know what exactly I'll do."

"It would be wonderful if they completed them in my lifetime," Lilith said, watching the discussion of it on the news, "It seems like it would be easier on me than the altitude of flying."

"I guess all we have to do is let it take its course." Haile said.

* * *

"See you later, dad. Bye, Lilith," Genesis said to the two a few days later, "I'll let you know when I get to the school."

Haile nodded. "Alright, Gen. Drive safe."

"Bye, Fireball" Lilith said and smiled, "It was nice to meet you."

"You too, Lilith," Genesis replied, "I'm off now. Bye." He said and left the house.

Haile and Lilith sat down and heard _Kimura's_ engine start up and rev. It got quieter and quieter until it was nearly silent.

"I guess it's just you, me, and a lazy kitten." Haile said as he petted Lunessia on the couch next to him.

"It seems that way," Lilith replied, sinking back into the couch, "I've had a wonderful time here. The clearing was just like a little piece of heaven. Jace still needs to come up with that name."

"Give him time. He's usually good with coming up with names, unlike Gen," Haile laughed, "He took a year to even name his sword. Jace came up with his in the planning stages of making his."

"Haile..." Lilith started quietly.

"What is it?" Haile asked her, taking a more soft tone.

"I... would just like to thank you for saving Jace."

Haile tilted his head a bit. "Why are you thanking me for that?"

"Because he's made Alyss so happy. He made her feel safe," Lilith answered him, "He didn't deserve to be abandoned on the street, but..."

"You... think it was for the best that he was?" Haile asked, not showing any anger in his voice.

Lilith looked down. "I-If they had kept him, then he wouldn't have met Aly. She wouldn't be as happy as she is right now. It was best for her, and maybe it was best for him as well because now _he_ is happy. Happier than he has ever been from what he has said. It makes me feel so guilty to think that..."

"Honestly... I feel the same," Haile told her, his voice dropping considerably, "And a part of me... some horrible part of me is _glad_ that things happened with Gen and Jace the way they did. Gen's parents, Jace's parents and foster parents... If it wasn't for my kids, then I would've probably lost myself a long time ago."

"Now... a part of me is glad that everything happened with Idris... my former mate..." Lilith said and her eyes started growing blurry, "He nearly took our pride after he changed. He tried to take our ears, and he tried to take our lives. A-Alyss could have healed them back, but just the thought... I can never forgive him for what he did to Aly, but... she found the love of her life because of him."

"We... need to tell them this," Haile said, wiping at his eyes as they started to leak tears, "We can't keep our true feelings about their pasts from them forever. It'll only make it harder if we wait."

"R-right." Lilith agreed.

"School doesn't start for another week or so," Haile said and quickly messaged Genesis on his scroll. He hit the send button before he could back out and sighed, "This is gonna be tough to do. Especially with Gen," He shook his head, "No... It'll be equally hard to tell them both..."

"The same with Alyss..." Lilith sighed.

"How did you feel about her calling me ' _dad_ '?" Haile asked her.

"I didn't mind it," Lilith replied, "I'm happy that she thinks of you as a father figure for the short time she's known you."

Haile nodded. "I'm glad you don't feel uncomfortable with it, considering Idris."

"He stopped being her father when he first hit her," Lilith said, "I never told her he came back from a mission, changed like that. She thought he was always like that, and I told her he went insane. Sh-she doesn't r-remember th-the nice man he u-used to be..."

Lilith lost control of her emotions and burst into tears, leaning forward and putting her face in her hands. "H-he was like an angel. _M-my_ angel. A-and th-then he went on that mission to stop a White Fang operation... He used to be so sweet and caring, and the damned White Fang corrupted him!" She screamed and sobbed, "H-he started saying that humans were scum, and that we were on your level because we saw you as equals! I-I-It hurt so, s-so much to see that happen to him!"

"Lily, calm down," Haile said, moving to sit next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, "The past is the past... We can't change it no matter how much we want to. Remember what I said before. It's possibly the only thing of worth that I can pass on to everyone. Keep your chin up. Both you and Aly are still here, and she's happy now. All that matters right now is that you both are safe."

Lilith cried into his shoulder. "Why did he listen to them...? I-I miss him so much..."

Haile didn't say anything as he let Lilith cling tightly to him, letting everything out that she could. She cried out the anger and the sadness she had kept in her away from her daughter for so long. She cried because of the hurt she felt when he first struck her and Alyss. She cried because of the scars he gave them from trying to take their pride. She cried because of the heartbreak. She cried because of the returning pain in her faded-out Mark from breaking her bond with the one she trusted the most.

It lasted for close to an hour. Haile guessed all of that must have built up in her for the past few years and she kept it to herself, not wanting Alyss to see her like that. Haile sighed as he heard his scroll buzz on the coffee table. He took an arm from around Lilith's still-shaking form and picked it up, seeing he had a message from Genesis.

 _'Sorry it took so long for me to answer back. I had to meet with Ironwood about those idiots we saw at the gallery. What's wrong?'_

 _'Just come back to the house after you drop your things off. I have to get something off my chest.'_

After Haile hesitated for a full minute before he sent the reply, he set his scroll on the coffee table again. He was about to put that arm back around Lilith, but she pulled away from him.

"I-if you don't mind, I am going to take a nap." She told him quietly.

"Just go straight to my bed," Haile told her, "Don't worry about cleaning the tears off your cheeks. I don't care if the sheets get messy." For the duration that she'd been there, he let her sleep in his bed while he took the one in Alex's room so she could have the largest and most comfortable bed in the house.

Lilith nodded slowly before she went up the stairs. Haile sighed as he prepared to face his son.

* * *

"Gen... I-I'm so sorry..." Haile said to his oldest son an hour later as Genesis sat on the other couch in the living room. Tears fell down his cheeks while he told Genesis about everything he felt, and Genesis' face nearly mirrored his, "I-I hate that part of me that thinks that, but I can't deny it at all... I'm glad it all happened... A-and I hope you don't hate me now..."

Genesis took everything in that Haile told him as he had his arms crossed. Haile looked down to the floor in shame as Genesis looked at him. There was several moments of silence, almost five minutes of it, as they just sat there.

"Dad... don't be fucking stupid," Genesis said a bit harshly, "I don't hate you. It honestly fucking hurts that you think that. It hurts so much... but I don't hate you for it. You said that if it wasn't for me and Jace, then you wouldn't have made it this far. I'm glad for that. Just don't think I hate you because I don't, and I won't hate you."

"You have every right to, though..."

"I know I do, but I don't," Genesis said, "And I don't hate you for what you said about Jace and his shitty birth and foster parents. I'm kinda in the same boat with you about that because Jace is the best brother I could've asked for for all these years. We both have to tell him that sometime."

"Yeah... we do..." Haile agreed, "Thank you, Gen. You don't know how much it means to me that you don't hate me. And I'm sorry that it hurt you, but it would've hurt worse if I kept it from you longer. Both me and you. I'll tell Jace that before school starts. Lilith has something to tell Alyss too."

Genesis sighed. "Yeah... Thanks for being honest with me, dad. I should probably get going before it gets too late."

"Right. Drive safe. I love you, son."

"Love you too, dad. Seeya later." Genesis replied and left the house.

Haile leaned back on the couch and sighed heavily. _"That's one son down... Now I need to talk to Jace."_ He thought to himself.

"Haile?"

Haile looked toward the source of his name and saw that Lilith was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Everything okay, Lilith?"

She nodded and sighed. "For the most part, I suppose. I kept this from everyone, but I haven't been sleeping too well this past week."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you know why?"

Lilith nodded again. "Yes, I do," She hesitated and her features were brightened with a blush, "It's so embarrassing and childish, but I usually sleep with a body pillow to hold. I have since Idris and I... separated. Holding something like that helps me sleep. I forgot to bring it with me, so I haven't been sleeping well. It... comes from me missing him..."

"Do you want me to lay down with you?" Haile asked softly, "Maybe see if it will help?"

"That was what I was going to ask, but it was so embarrassing to say," Lilith said, her cheeks and neck returning to her skin's normal color, "I hope I'm not asking too much."

"No, it's fine," Haile assured her and stood from the couch. He picked up his scroll and the remote and switched the vidcaster off, "I want to make my guest and my friend comfortable. Lack of sleep is one of the worst things to deal with. Jace had nightmares a long time ago and he could hardly sleep for almost two months."

Lilith gave a small smile. "Thank you, Haile."

They walked up the stairs to Haile's room. They went inside and then sat themselves down into the bed. "Do you sleep better with you holding something or something holding you?" Haile asked her.

"I would rather be doing the holding, if you don't mind." Lilith answered him.

Haile nodded and laid down, turning his back to her. She laid down behind him and lightly wrapped her arms around him, pressing their bodies together. "Thank you again, Haile. It means so much to me that you want to help like this."

"It's fine, Lily," Haile replied, "You need the rest after what we talked about earlier, and I do too after talking with Gen."

"Do you feel better after talking with him?"

"I do, but that was half of my guilt taken care of. When you go back to Vale, I'm going too so I can talk to Jace."

"Okay. I'm glad it went okay with Gen."

"Me too. I'm just sad that it hurt him." Haile sighed.

Lilith _hummed_ and closed her eyes. "We can talk about this more later if you want to. I'm going to try to sleep now."

"Yeah, me too. I hope you can sleep good now."

"That is my hope," Lilith said and gave a short chuckle, "I believe I know where Jace gets his caring nature. You raised him to be a wonderful young man."

"I'm glad you think so. I always tried my best."

* * *

"Oh, this is lovely!" Lilith exclaimed, looking through the window of a shop in another one of Atlas' malls. She was wearing the outfit that she wore on the journey to Atlas.

It was a small shop that looked like it was filled with different knick-knacks and ornaments and trinkets. She was looking at a silver, interestingly crafted candle holder. She was drawn to it because a candle would go inside what was almost a pot, and it had designs of leaves and vines all around it, and holes in between each vine and leaf for the candle light to filter through. Beside it was another one that was more solid but had holes all around it in the shape of leaves, almost matching her emblem, which was the same as her daughter's oakleaf.

"Do you want to buy it?" Haile asked her with a grin, standing close to her in case anyone tried to act tough to her.

"I may, but... Sixty lien?" She shook her head, "I would love to buy them both. I didn't bring enough with me, though."

"For one or both?"

"I only have enough to pay for half of one."

"Let's split it, then," Haile offered, "Pick the one you want most and I'll split the cost with you."

"Are you sure you would be okay with that?" Lilith asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. I don't mind to if you want it so much. I could buy the other too if you wanted."

"I won't ask you to, but I _do_ want them both." Lilith said, smiling a bit.

"Okay, I'll get them both. And I might try to find a gift for Alyss to welcome her into my family. You know what she might like?"

"To be honest, she would like anything you choose," Lilith told him as they entered the store, "Do you want me to go find something while you get the candle holders?"

"We could do that, but be careful who you go near," Haile warned her, "I don't want anything to happen to you because of Atlesian racist bullshit, if you'll excuse my language. If someone starts, just ignore them and come find me. Stand beside me on the opposite side of them."

Lilith nodded. "I'll be careful, and I'll do what you said if it happens." She assured him and went across the store past different shelves away from him.

Haile moved past smaller shelves to where the candle holders were. He looked at a few things that his future daughter-in-law might like. He saw different little cat figurines, which one looked very cute, he admitted. It was in a sitting position, with one of its paws up as if it was scratching its head with the ear on that side flattened out to the side. Its eyes were closed and its head was tilted sideways a bit. It was metal, and most of it was painted white with red paws and a few red spots on the back.

Haile bent down and picked it up to look it over as he grinned. It looked like it could be something straight from one of the shows that Jace watches. The price of it wasn't too bad at just thirty lien.

"I might just get you," He said to himself and went to put it back for now, "Might get the enamel and paint I need to repaint you to be more appropriate for her colors."

He started to continue on, but he stopped in his tracks and frowned.

"Don't ignore me, cat!" He heard someone say loudly, bordering a yell.

Haile clenched his fists as he closed his eyes.

"Leave me alone, you cur!" Lilith nearly screamed at the person.

She came around the end of a shelf and came for him, holding her right bicep, then he saw someone else soon after with a look of hate and anger in his eyes. "Are you calling me a dog, bitch?"

Lilith didn't reply as she quickly went to stand on the other side of Haile. The person laughed as he came closer.

"You can't just hide behind a stranger here," The man said threateningly, "No one in Atlas wants-"

When he moved close enough to Haile, the veteran Huntsman sent his elbow out and caught him hard right in the jaw, immediately knocking him out. Haile caught him and gently lowered him down to the floor so he wouldn't make any noise. He quickly rose back up and addressed Lilith.

"Are you okay?" Haile asked her, "Did he hurt you?"

"H-he only grabbed my arm... but it hurt so much," Lilith answered him, crossing her arms now as her eyes shined with tears, "C-can w-we get the candle holders and go, please?"

"Yeah, give me a second." Haile replied. He picked up that cat figurine that he was looking at and handed it to Lilith. He quickly went through the small shelves and found the two items that Lilith wanted. He grabbed them both and met back up with her, then they went to the counter where Haile was dangerously close to losing his temper.

"I can't serve you." The cashier said simply, returning to look at a magazine.

"And why not?" Haile asked her in a level tone, "Or is it just that you _won't_?"

"Animals aren't welcome here-"

"You put your magazine down and listen to me," Haile interrupted her harshly, "I am a licensed Huntsman under General Ironwoods employ. It is entirely in my authority to have you fired if you don't serve me."

"Really?" The woman snarked, "I guess I'll just take my chances."

Haile shook his head and brought his scroll out and went to his contacts. After a few moments, he received an answer and he had it on speaker.

"Hello Haile. What did you need?" General Ironwood answered him.

"Hello, General. If someone doesn't serve me for whatever reason in any store in Atlas, I can have them fired, right?" He asked Ironwood, gaining the woman's undivided attention.

"Yes, you can. What problems are you having?"

"I'm at a store called _Transcendent Trinkets_ in the mall in the commercial district. I'm with Jace's girlfriend's mother, my friend and guest and the cashier refused to serve us."

"Please, no!" The woman begged quietly, "I-I need this-"

"What do you want to do about it, Haile?" Ironwood asked Haile.

"If she sells us what we want to buy, then I'll drop it." Haile answered him.

"Even if she does, things will change there," Ironwood said, "Did they have a sign that said that Faunus weren't welcome?"

"No sir. We would've avoided this damned place otherwise."

"Right. If that is all, I'll make arrangements to go there to meet with the owner of the store, and the cashier..."

"Alright. I'll let you go now, sir. Thanks for hearing me out. Also, Jace is mated with Alyss. In human terms and with the Mark they have, it means they're still dating, but I have a feeling they'll be engaged someday."

"Really now? It's good that they're happy. I hope for nothing but the best for Jace. Goodbye, Haile. Have a good day, and tell Jace I said congratulations when you see him again."

"I will. You have a good day too." Haile said and the call was ended.

He turned back to the cashier, who had a look of complete shock on her face. "Are you going to serve us now?" He asked her.

"Yes..." The woman said, taking the items to scan.

"One hundred and fifty lien..." She told him.

Haile basically threw the lien on the countertop. "Maybe you should have a sign if the shop is so against different _people_ ," He put emphasis on the final word, "Have a nice day." He finished and he and Lilith took their items and left.

Haile stood by her defensively as they walked briskly through the mall. When he caught someone glaring at Lilith, he glared back with an intensity in his sky-blue eyes that made them immediately look away and go in a different direction. They went down an escalator and then to the main doors, exiting the mall.

They walked more slowly toward the parking lot, both of them trying to calm down from two completely different emotions.

"I-I am sorry for the inconvenience, Haile..." Lilith said quietly.

" _You_ weren't an inconvenience," Haile told her, "Those people were."

"But they wouldn't have been that way if I wasn't there..."

"You aren't any inconvenience at all to me, Lily," Haile assured her, "Hopefully this is getting a new cashier for that store. Don't blame yourself for that crap. It's ones like them that aren't fit for civilization."

Lilith sighed, holding her arm and rubbing it. "Are you okay?" Haile asked her.

She shook her head. "My arm will probably be bruised badly..."

Haile let out a noise that could almost be considered a growl. "I should go back there and arrest him for assault."

"If you can... then go do it," Lilith said, "He shouldn't be allowed to walk freely if he is so violent to Faunus..."

"I'll get you to the truck, then I'll go do that. I remember his face."

After reaching the truck, Lilith got in the front passenger seat and shut the door, locking it as she did her best to hide her ears from the public as Haile went back into the mall. He basically jumped up four steps at a time on the escalator to reach the second floor faster. He returned back to the shop he and Lilith left and ignored the cashier, going back to where he left the unconscious man. Grinning a bit, he found the man still laying there.

He picked him up over his shoulders and carried him to the outside of the mall, then he called the police. He waited half an hour at his truck, keeping Lilith company as he held the man's wrist in a crushing grip after he awoke, keeping him from running off. He ignored everything he said, keeping his focus on everything that Lilith talked with him about. Every time he called her an animal, Haile squeezed his wrist tighter.

Soon, the police arrived, along with General Ironwood and a group of his men as his protection detail. Haile explained that the man he had in custody had grabbed Lilith against her will, which he viewed as assault as well. And after Lilith showed her arm, which was bruised badly, Haile had to restrain himself from knocking the man senseless again. The man was thrown in a police car and Lilith was let go from questioning, and then Haile took her straight to the penthouse where they could both hopefully relax and calm down.

"Show me your arm." Haile ordered her as he gathered a tube of ointment and a small bag of ice from the freezer.

Lilith nodded and rolled her loose sleeve up, showing the large, near-black bruise on her upper arm. It had clear marks where the man's hand grabbed her. Haile's mouth twitched at the sight as he began to lightly rub some of the ointment over the bruise, which Lilith lightly whimpered at.

"I'm trying not to be forceful, but I have to put a little bit of pressure on it to rub the ointment in good." Haile told her.

She nodded. "I-I know. My skin has always been frail, so that only makes it worse."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with the worst of it here," Haile sighed, "I can't imagine what Jace or Alyss would've done if they were here."

"I don't think Aly would have tried to hold Jace back." Lilith remarked.

"Neither would I. Ironwood would just so Jace wouldn't get in trouble. He hates that people like that just make Atlesians look bad."

Haile finished with the ointment and put the ice pack over the bruise, keeping it pressed there lightly. "Here. You hold this there while I go get you something to drink."

She nodded and did as he said, wincing as she pressed it more against her arm. "Alright. I would like some milk if you don't mind." She requested.

Haile nodded and left for the refrigerator. Lilith sighed and brought her feet up, uneasily taking her sandals off her feet as she tried to keep the ice on her arm. She reached her other hand down and tried to rub them as best she could to help with the soreness in them.

"You alright?" Haile asked as he returned with the milk.

"Thank you, Haile. And no, my feet are absolutely killing me." Lilith answered him and took the glass from him.

"You want me to rub them for you?" Haile offered.

"If you wouldn't mind," Lilith said with a returning smile, "Thank you so much, Haile."

Haile grinned a bit. "It's the least I could do after what you went through today." He said and sat down on the couch a bit away from her.

He put his back against the armrest and patted his thigh. "Here, put them up on my leg and lay down a bit."

Lilith nodded and sunk down on the couch enough to where she could still drink her milk. She propped her feet on his leg and he gently worked with rubbing and massaging the left foot first., easily feeling her skin through the thin stockings. Lilith started _humming_ and groaning at the pain being rubbed out of them

"It feels amazing to have my feet massaged by someone else." Lilith remarked.

Haile grinned. "I hope you like it because I've never done this for anyone."

"Oh I do. I like it very much," Lilith giggled and took a drink of milk, "Did you buy that cat figurine for Aly?"

"Yeah, I guessed she might like it. It looks cute. I'm gonna be getting things to repaint it to her colors. Maybe more blonde on the head with the same black patch she has."

"She'll love it. She'll only tell you that you didn't have to buy her anything." Lilith said, closing her eyes, leaning her head back and curling her toes a bit in pleasure at the feeling of the massage.

"Too late now," Haile laughed, then he cleared his throat, "I've been wondering something since Jace and Alyss dealt with those two in that gallery. I hope you don't mind if I ask this, but... do Faunus have to deal with heat?"

"It is a _very_ rare mutation in our DNA," Lilith answered him easily, "I don't mind to explain it. Different types of cat or dog or rabbit Faunus have more of a chance to be born with it. My friend has to go through cycles every year. Thankfully she is mated to a man that is able to satiate her needs when that time comes."

"Okay," Haile said and pursed his lips a bit, "What if... she didn't have someone?"

"Then she would need to have a week to herself to deal with it. Or take special medication. In school, she went into heat and wasn't able to attend. She didn't have a boyfriend at the time, and I kept her company and missed school as well. She told me that her parents said it would be easier if she had a... _companion_ for the duration of her heat cycle."

"A companion?" Haile echoed, cocking an eyebrow, "And you kept her company for that week?" Haile snapped his mouth shut after he said it as he realized he was asking something _very_ personal, "You don't have to answer that. I didn't think before I asked."

Lilith laughed. "It's alright, Haile. I don't mind. I'm not embarrassed. During her heat cycles during and after we finished school and before she found a mate, I stayed with her and helped her through it. I am not ashamed or embarrassed to tell that I had sex with her to make her heat easier to bear. It was tiring, nearly nonstop for the entire week. We barely slept at all and one of our friends had offered to help her too. He saw that it was hell to go through and he didn't want to see her go through it or see me half dead from lack of sleep. I won't lie...it was incredibly fun. If I had to, I would still help her."

"Huh..." Haile _hummed_ , "I never knew some Faunus had to go through that."

"Alyss and I thankfully don't. Although now she has Jace, so it would be bearable for her. As for me, I would have to take the medication."

"It seems like hell for the one that goes through it. I'm glad you don't either. Although it might be... _extremely_ weird to hear since you just met me not too long ago..." Haile cleared his throat in embarrassment, "If you had to go through it and you asked, I would help any way I could. I wouldn't want to witness a friend go through something like that."

Lilith smiled. "I appreciate the thought, Haile."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: I love the relationship between Haile and Lilith. Looking back on what I've done with this chapter, I think it's really cute. I wanted to take a chapter and highlight Lilith's time in Atlas more and that talk about Idris had to happen.**

 **See you in a week, and have a nice day!**


	46. Chapter 46: An Uncomfortable Talk

**AN: Alright, I remembered that I forgot to put the artist of the song I used in chapter 44. It's by Theory of a Dead Man. That's all I needed to say, and welcome back to A Second Chance.**

 _ **Act Four: Time to Shine**_

 **Chapter Forty Six**

 **An Uncomfortable Talk**

"Come on, Jace!" Alyss encouraged her mate, sitting on top of him. She wore purple yoga pants, a white t-shirt, and white sneakers, "You can beat her!"

"Ha!" Weiss laughed in amusement as she was on her girlfriend's back. She wore light-blue yoga pants and a matching t-shirt and black sneakers, "There's no way Jace can beat Yang."

"How... did we... get roped into doing this?" Jace asked in exhaustion between each pushup, sweat dripping down his face and from his nose onto the floor of the gym. He was barechested, wearing a pair of shorts and sneakers as his attire for the moment. He had a black tank top, but he took it off before then.

"Dunno... Beats me." Yang replied, equally as exhausted and sweaty as him. She had her wild hair in a ponytail. She wore a bright-yellow cropped tank top and black minishorts with yellow sneakers as her workout attire.

"It just grew from doing regular pushups," Raine told them, watching on in amusement from another weight bench she was about to use. She wore a dark-green tank top and black yoga pants, her short hair in a ponytail as well. "Then in their stretches, Alyss and Weiss started saying who could do more."

"I guess... this makes up... for my lack... of training these past... two months." Jace groaned.

"I guess this takes out your plans for goin' against bots, don't it?" Auron asked Jace, sitting on a nearby weight bench, covered in sweat himself from his own workout a few minutes before. He wore a pair of sweatpants and a dark-gray t-shirt.

"Hell no!" Jace declared, doing his pushups a bit faster, causing Alyss to grab onto his shoulders to keep steady, "I need... to train... as hard as I can... to beat Gen!"

"That's months away, though," Weiss said, "Maybe you should focus on the beginning of our new year first."

Jace shook his head. "I want... to make up... for being so... lazy."

"Was the laziness worth it, sweetie?" Alyss asked him.

"Yes."

"The hell... are we on now?" Yang asked.

'Lost count... at seven hundred." Jace answered her.

"I'd say you're both close to maybe a thousand," Raine said, "You started this what, like an hour ago?"

"More like two," Auron answered her, "I wonder who'll drop first."

"Both of them have a lot o' stamina for it," Auron said, "Strength too, considerin' they have people on their backs."

"Jace has it a bit harder," Alyss said, "I have a bigger body than Weiss."

"I can... carry you... all day... if I wanted to." Jace told her.

"Great to know, Kitten."

"I'd like to see... these two... switch places with us," Yang said and gave a tired chuckle, "That'd be funny."

"There's no chance that'll happen." Alyss told her.

"Definitely not," Weiss agreed, "Alyss and I are more finesse fighters while both of you use enough brute strength to each lift a truck."

"I have plenty finesse!" Yang argued, "I don't see you complainin' about it in bed-mmph!"

Weiss' hand shot down past her head and clamped over Yang's mouth. "That's enough, Yang." Weiss said, blushing.

After a few more pushups, someone's scroll started ringing. Auron looked at the few next to him and saw which one it was. "Alyss, it's yours. It's mom."

"You can answer it or toss it over here." Alyss told him.

"I got it. You seem busy." Auron replied and picked her scroll up.

"Howdy, mom." Auron answered.

"Pepper? Umm... why do you have Aly's scroll?"

"She's on Jace's back. They're in a competition with our friends to see who can do the most pushups with someone on their backs."

"Ah... How are you?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"I am... okay..." Auron heard a good amout of hesitation in her voice, "When they're finished, could you tell Aly to come home? A-and Jace too. Haile is here and he needs to talk to Jace."

"Really?" Auron _hummed_ , "I won't pry. I'll tell 'em. Was that everything?"

"Yes, that was it. Bye, Pepper."

"Bye."

They ended the call and Auron set his partner's scroll down. "You might wanna wrap this up. She wants both o' you at your house, Aly. She's back an' Haile came with her. She said you can go when you're all done, but she sounded real nervous. You might wanna go soon. They wanna talk to you both."

"Dad's here?" Jace asked, stopping at the apex of a pushup, "We should probably go see. I don't know what mom would be nervous about."

"You wanna go?" Yang asked, pausing in her exercises.

"Yeah... I don't want to keep them waiting." Alyss said, standing off of Jace's back.

Jace jumped to his feet, heaving a great sigh of exertion. "I'm taking a damn shower first." He said and Raine threw him a towel to wipe his face and shirtless torso off. Alyss took the towel right after and wiped his back off for him.

Weiss stood from Yang and the brawler slowly came to her feet. "Man, that was fun. Too bad it had to stop."

"I still believe you would've won," Weiss said, handing Yang her own towel, "It will annoy me to not know a definitive answer, though."

"Some other time, maybe," Jace offered, "When we're both rested up. Probably next week."

"I'll look forward to it." Yang grinned.

"If Vivi can stop by, I'll join in." Raine said.

"That'll be hilarious to see." Yang remarked.

Jace and Alyss grabbed their scrolls and left to their dorm after their goodbyes. They stayed in their room for only close to thirty minutes as Jace quickly took a shower to rinse his body off of sweat, and Alyss had joined him to clean her own body off. They finished and Jace dressed in black jeans and the one-winged warrior shirt Alyss had bought him, then he slipped on his boots. Alyss put on a purple t-shirt, blue-jeans, and her sneakers and the two quickly left from there. They exited the dorms and went to the parking lot behind the school where _Titan_ sat. They quickly put their helmets on and hopped on the motorcycle as Jace put his goggles around his eyes.

Jace started stomped the lever and quickly started the engine, then he bolted from the parking lot and drove down the road. After another thirty minutes, which Jace hated because he wanted to be there sooner, Jace parked his motorcycle behind his father's truck.

Jace shut the engine off and the two mates quickly walked up to the door of the house. Alyss opened the door and they walked in, taking their footwear off as they entered. They walked slowly to the living room and saw their parents sitting in separate spots, Lilith in her usual chair and Haile on the couch nearest to her.

"Hello, kids." Lilith greeted them with a nervous smile.

"Hi mom." Both Alyss and Jace greeted back.

"What are you doing in Vale, dad?" Jace asked Haile.

"Well... a reason is that I brought a gift to welcome Alyss into my family." Haile answered with a small smile, pointing to the small box on the table.

"You got me a gift?" Alyss asked, "You didn't have to, though."

Haile nodded. "Lilith knew you'd say that. It's kind of a thank you, too. For making Jace happy."

"Thank you, dad." Alyss smiled and she and Jace finally sat down.

"Are you gonna open it?" Jace asked her.

She nodded and reached for the box. It had a purple bow around it, holding it closed. She unwrapped it and opened it, then she reached inside and pulled out a small cat figurine. It was almost entirely ash-blonde-colored, with the exception of its legs and a patch on the right side of its head. The patch was black, covering its ear and down to just above the right eye. The legs down from the middle to the paws were purple with black stripes.

"This is freaking adorable." Jace remarked with a grin.

"I got it and had to paint it myself," Haile said, "I painted it with Alyss' hair color and a bit of her favorite color. The legs are like her armstockings.

"I love it!" Alyss exclaimed, smiling widely as she looked more closely at it, "This is gonna go right on my desk at school. It's gonna look so cute sitting there."

"I'm glad you like it, Aly." Haile said to her.

Alyss set the figurine down on the coffee table and folded her hands in her lap. "Why... did you want us both here?" She asked them.

Haile and Lilith looked at each other, each with almost the same expressions of anxiousness. "Do you want me to go first?" Haile asked her, "I think what I want to tell Jace is... pretty simple compared to what you want to tell Alyss."

Lilith sighed. "Perhaps that is the reason _I_ should go first..."

"Only if you're sure."

"What's wrong?" Alyss asked her mother in worry, "Did something happen?"

"No, dear... It's something I've been keeping from you." Lilith told her.

"Okay..." Alyss sat up a bit straighter, "Take your time."

Lilith took a few moments, gathering what she wanted to say in her mind. "Alyss... it's about your father."

"What happened?" Alyss asked quickly, "H-he didn't get out, did he?"

Lilith quickly shook her head. "No, nothing like that. He's still in prison. I need to tell you... why he started abusing us."

"What do you mean?" Alyss asked in confusion.

"He wasn't always like that..." Lilith started sadly, "He used to be so sweet and kind to the both of us, and he wanted to protect us both. Th-that was why I wanted to be his mate."

"Then... wh-why did he hurt us?" Alyss asked, her eyes blurring, "Why did he hurt _you_?"

"B-because..." Lilith hesitated, "the mission he went on... he had to stop a White Fang operation. To my understanding, they corrupted his mind and filled it with lies."

"White Fang?" Alyss parroted, "He was stopping them?"

"Yes, that was his mission," Lilith answered her quietly, "They told him how humans were lower than us, and they were worth nothing. They made him believe it. I-I wanted to take our Mark further, to be with him for my life. He came home a-and I was ecstatic. I was preparing myself to ask him, but then... h-he told me not to let you talk to any humans. I-I asked why and he told me so many lies about them, saying how they only wanted to either use us or snuff us out, a-and I argued with him about it. A-and that was when he h-hit me..."

"Alyss, h-he didn't lose his mind... He was _never_ always like that. H-he was corrupted and he betrayed us both... A-and I kept it from you because I-I didn't know how you would react... I miss him, Aly. I miss him so, s-so much. I-I want him back how he used to be... You were never fully able to know him how I did..."

"M-mama..." Alyss had a few tears trailing down her cheeks, "Y-you should've told me... I hated him for so long. I-I hated that he tricked you into being his mate... I-I h-hated that h-he tricked you into sleeping with him... I j-just _hated_ him so much. I don't know what to think now..."

"H-he never tricked me, dear," Lilith said sadly, "We truly loved each other before then..."

"S-so..." Alyss closed her eyes and looked down at the floor, "Th-the White Fang caused you two to split apart... The White Fang almost killed us..."

"Yes, dear..." Lilith sighed, "That isn't even the worst of it to me..."

"What could be worse than that?" Alyss asked her in sadness.

"I am... glad that it happened..."

"What?" Alyss raised her vision and just stared at her mother in shock, "You're... glad?"

Lilith shrunk under her gaze. "Y-yes, I am glad. You are happy with your mate now. If it didn't happen, then I don't know if you would have ever found Jace or another mate. Y-you wouldn't be as happy as you are now... I am so sorry I never told you. Since you've been Jace's mate, I-I've thought this way. I can never forgive your father for what he did to you, but... I just can't deny that I'm glad it happened this way..."

"Y'know... we kinda had this talk back at the dance last year," Jace said quietly, "It came from me thanking my old teammate for pulling my tail. I started to think that if I thanked him, then I should thank Alyss' father for causing her to be here... It made me hate myself to think that, b-but..."

"I think the same way..." Alyss said, "I thought I would never be able to thank him for anything, but it's what I think now. I found my mate because of what he did... but I can never forgive him for what he did to you. If it was just me, then I would say this without feeling any guilt, but he hurt you too, mama."

"I... take it that you don't hate me for thinking this?" Lilith asked her hopefully.

Alyss quickly shook her head. "No, I don't hate you. I-I can never hate you, mom. I don't like that you kept the truth of what happened with him from me, but I don't hate you."

"Thank Light..." Lilith sighed in relief, "I'm sorry, cub," She looked over to Haile, "Do you want to tell that to Jace, now?"

Haile nodded slowly. "Yeah..." He took a deep breath and let it out as evenly as he could, "I'm not sugar-coating it. Jace, I'm glad all that stuff happened to you and Gen..."

"You... Y-you are?" Jace asked his father.

He sighed. "Yes, Jace... I'm glad. I'm glad you had the parents and foster parents you did. And I'm... glad that Genesis' parents died..." Haile said shamefully, "I hate that I think that too... I said before that if it wasn't for you two then I wouldn't be here, and I meant that. Even if I did make it this far... I-I would've turned out like Axel, especially after he died... I would've went out and fought Grimm until I was killed..."

"I'm glad too, dad..." Jace said, looking down.

"And..." Haile just caught what Jace said and his eyes widened, "What? Y-you're glad too?"

Jace nodded. "About everything. My birth parents, m-my first foster parents... a-and I'm even a little glad for the experiments. If it wasn't for them all... then I wouldn't be happy right now. I might have been a racist piece of shit if it wasn't for all of that. Sorry for my language, mom. And... being a Faunus is my favorite part about those experiments, even if it's not natural. I love the life I have. I love my family, I love my friends, I love my team, and _gods_ I love Alyss. I'm so glad that all of that happened to me..."

"And... I'm kinda glad that that happened with Gen's parents too," Jace continued, guilt creeping into his voice, "He's helped me so much and if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be as good as I am at fighting. You let us do our own thing, but you corrected and helped when you thought we were struggling. Gen helped me with growing my fighting skill and... h-he promised I'd never be alone again... and he was right..."

Jace gave a smile after he said that, reaching to put his hand over Alyss'. "I'm not alone. He gave me hope that I could find people to accept me. Tyr and his team, Auron and Raine, Alex's team, RWBY and JNPR, and Alyss. And then there's Alyss' old team. That's... off track from what we were talking about..."

Jace took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "The point is that I'm glad that our lives happened the way they did. Bad things happened to us all... but I'm glad for it. I wouldn't be happy and Alyss wouldn't be happy if none of that happened to us. You said you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that. It would be hypocritical of me if I held it against you for thinking that, dad."

"So... I was worrying over nothing?" Haile gave a shaky laugh, "I-I didn't think it would go this well."

"I told you that you raised him well," Lilith said with a smile, turning to Jace, "I can't lie, Jace. I'm glad that happened to you as well. My cub is happier than ever because of you."

Jace gave a small smile. "It's okay for you to say it. I think the same thing, even if I feel horrible for saying I'm glad that happened to you two."

"We all have strange lives, I suppose," Lilith said, "And our lives brought us all together. Perhaps Oum made things this way for a reason."

"Maybe," Haile said, "To be honest, if that's true then he and the God of Light works in some fucked up ways sometimes."

"Can we stay the night here?" Jace asked Lilith, "We came here as soon as we could and my muscles are really sore from those pushups."

Lilith tilted her head a bit, raising an eyebrow. "You don't have to ask, cub. You can always stay here if you want to."

"Thanks, mom."

* * *

The next morning, Jace and Alyss left her home. Jace still felt a bit of soreness, but his aura took care of that when he slept. Plus, Alyss was kind enough to rub his right shoulder and back for him, which helped greatly. On the ride back to Beacon, Alyss barely said anything at all, which Jace could understand. She was nervous as her mother had been, and Jace knew why.

"You wanna talk to Blake alone?" Jace asked her after he parked _Titan_.

"Not really..." Alyss said quietly, "I dunno if I could talk to her alone... I don't know if I can repeat what mom told me," She looked at him and Jace felt the nervousness she felt, "I-"

"If you want, I can tell her for you,"Jace offered, "I asked you to tell your mom about my past, so maybe I can do this for you if you don't think you can."

"I'll say as much as I can," Alyss said and softly kissed him, "Thank you for offering, Jace."

Jace smiled as he felt a bit of relief and calmness coming through his Mark. "I'll help you through this."

"Right." Alyss nodded.

She retrieved the cat figurine from the helmet case and replaced it with her helmet, then Jace put his in with it. First, they went back to their dorm to check on their teammates and to tell them what their parents discussed with them the day before. And Alyss put her gift from Haile on her desk, roght in the middle at the wall.

After that, they journeyed out to find Blake. The first place they checked was RWBY's dorm room. Alyss knocked on the door after a few moments of hesitation and a few more moments later, it was opened by the team's resident blonde.

"Hello there~" Yang greeted cheerfully in a singsong voice, "Back already for that rematch, Jace?" She grinned.

"No, I'm not." Jace answered her.

Alyss looked around the room, not seeing her fellow Faunus anywhere. "Do you know where Blake is? I-I... r-really need to talk to her."

Jace noticed the hesitation in her voice and sent her a feeling of calmness with his aura, softly squeezing her hand. She looked up at him and smiled, calming down a bit from the sensation in her Mark.

"Umm, yeah," Yang answered her, noticing the short exchange, "She's with Ruby at the training rooms now. I think Rubes wanted to spar against her to see how her weapon worked in a fight against her."

"Wouldn't Blake just let Ruby look at it?" Jace asked.

Yang shook her head. "It's like... Ruby wants to see it in action against her or whatever. She's weird about her weapons. Anyway... what did you need to talk with Blake about?"

"Something my mom told me," Alyss answered, "It has to do with... m-my father."

Weiss came into the doorway and frowned. "What exactly does Blake need to know about that waste of life?"

Alyss flinched a bit, not knowing what to say to that. "It's..." She leaned in and lowered her voice to a very low whisper, "I-it has to do with the White Fang too."

Both girls' eyes widened at hearing that. "Oh... I still don't see what that has to do with Blake, but okay," Yang replied silently, "She's in room four."

Alyss nodded. "Thanks, Yang." Alyss said and walked off, leaving Yang, Weiss, and Jace there.

Yang leaned in closer to Jace. "What's wrong with her? She isn't acting normal."

"And she actually looked... _hurt_ when I called her father a waste of life..." Weiss said.

Jace sighed. "With what her mom told her... she doesn't really know how to view her father now. He's still a horrible man, but... her mom dropped a lot for her to think about."

Yang nodded. "Well, I hope that talk goes easy."

"Me too. See you both later."

"You too."

Jace left her and caught up to Alyss at the stairs. They walked down and exited the building, then they went toward the training rooms. Soon, they went along the small buildings and came to a stop at the fourth one, marked with a large '4' above the door. They quietly slipped in, expecting to catch a bit of sparring between the two girls. To their surprise, they saw what looked to be a premature end to a match as both of them were bound tightly together by the ribbon of _Gambol Shroud_ , lightly kissing each other and giggling.

"What on Remnant happened?" Jace asked as he and Alyss stepped onto the sparring ground.

The two jolted a bit and stopped kissing, both blushing deeply as their eyes widened and looked toward them.

"U-uh, hi!" Ruby greeted in embarrassment, "W-we were j-just... sparring! I-it's not like we did this on purpose or anything..."

"Can you... help us out?" Blake asked them.

Jace nodded. "Sure."

For the next few moments, Jace and Alyss helped to unbind Ruby and Blake. Blake retracted the ribbon into her weapon and she sheathed it as Ruby collapsed _Crescent Rose_ and held it in her arms.

"So... what happened?" Jace asked them.

"Ruby was using her semblance and tripped up, and I hesitated," Blake answered him, " _Gambol Shroud_ just kept going around and we were wrapped up in my ribbon."

"Then we started laughing and giggling and kissing..." Ruby said, digging the toe of her boot into the ground in embarrassment.

"Y-yeah," Blake said, "We were like that for... What's wrong, Alyss?" She asked her fellow cat Faunus, noticing she hadn't even greeted them or said a word.

"I need to talk to you, Blake," Alyss told her, "S-somewhere more private than here."

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked her, "Blake didn't do anything, did she?"

Alyss shook her head. "No, she didn't... Can we go back to your room or our room so we can talk?"

Blake nodded, confused and worried. "Sure, we can. I should probably take a shower first, though."

Alyss nodded. "That's fine. Just... come to our room when you're done. Ruby can be there too if she wants."

Blake looked between Alyss and Jace for a few moments before she nodded again, more slowly this time. "Okay. I'll be there."

* * *

Between thirty minutes to an hour later, Jace and Alyss were sitting at the table in their room with Blake and Ruby across from them. Alyss had asked Auron and Raine to leave the room to them for the next little bit while they spoke, and that she'd text them when they were finished.

"Is everything okay, Alyss?" Ruby asked the nervous and sad-looking girl.

"Yes and no, I guess," Alyss sighed, "My mom wanted to talk with me yesterday. She told me a couple things... but one just really changed a lot of what I think about my father, and it's something you really need to know, Blake."

"Okay..." Blake hesitated a bit, "What... does he have to do with me?

Alyss gulped and looked down. Jace looked to her and squeezed her hand. "Hey," He said and she looked up into his eyes, "You got this, Kitten. Do you want me to start?"

Alyss shook her head. "No... I should at least do that," She said and looked back to Blake, "Mom told me why he turned out how he did. Wh-why he started being abusive to us both and why he tried to take our ears."

"There's a reason for that?" Ruby asked.

Alyss nodded. "H-he went on a mission one day. That was maybe when I was eight or nine. I never knew what that mission was until mom told me yesterday. He... H-he went to stop a White Fang operation..."

"What?" Blake stared at her, her ears folding back at the mention of who she used to be with, "Please don't tell me..."

"J-just like what you said happened to your friend... They corrupted him and caused him to just hate humans. H-he should have been my dad... H-he would've been w-with us... B-but the Fang... th-they just..." Alyss shook her head and sobbed, closing her eyes as she cried.

Jace put his arm around her shoulders and rubbed lightly. "Lilith said that he wasn't always like that," He continued for her, "She really wanted to be his mate for the rest of his life, and she wanted to put their Mark in its last stage. The Fang filled his head with so many lies that he came home completely changed. He told Lilith and Alyss never to talk to humans again... and it went to hell from there. It's all because of the White Fang."

"I-I just... w-wanted to tell you," Alyss spoke up quietly, "I-I know h-how it made you f-feel when I told you wh-what happened and how he almost cut our ears off... I wanted to tell you why he turned in to the man I knew for so long..."

"Alyss..." Blake opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, trying to find the words to say, "I-I'm so sorry... I had no idea the Fang had any operations in Vacuo like that... I-I never wanted Faunus to turn against humans-"

"Blake," Alyss interrupted her, causing her to stop speaking, "I-I don't blame you for it... I know you wanted equality. It wasn't your fault. It was the White Fang's leadership in Vacuo, and I blame them for what happened to us all. I can't blame you. I-I just wanted to let you know that it was the White Fang's fault."

"Is everything okay with you, Alyss?" Ruby asked nervously, "I mean... I dunno what I mean. Like, how are you taking it? Y'know, learning about your father..."

"I d-don't know right now, Ruby," Alyss sighed, "I still can't forgive him for doing that to mom. He must've had something against humans to see things like the White Fang in the first place. He's still to blame for a lot, but so are they for corrupting him. Even with all of that, I-I don't know if I ever want to see him again. I might want to try, but I just don't know..."

"To me... it's no excuse for what he did," Jace spoke up, his eyes taking a hard look, "Even with his views changing like that, he still could've and _should_ have controlled his actions. He had no _fucking_ excuse to hurt Alyss and Lilith like that. If I saw him... I don't know what I'd do."

"No, it's no excuse at all," Alyss agreed, "Even if mom misses him, he'll never be my father to me."

"I wish it was different for you, Alyss," Blake said after a few moments, "I wish the Fang right now didn't exist. Maybe if dad was still the leader, then it would've never gotten like that even back then. The old Fang actually stood for something worthwhile. The group here today only stands for division. I'm sorry, Alyss. If dad were here, he'd be apologizing so much more."

"You don't have to apologize," Alyss told her, "Like I said, I just wanted to tell you considering... yeah..."

There was several moments of silence in the room as they all sat with the knowledge of what caused Alyss' father's downward spiral. It was a bit tense, considering everyone's feelings about it. Alyss was sad and confused, wondering what life could have been like. Jace was angry, wanting nothing more than to take the man's fingers and break them all for harming his mate. Blake was shocked and sad, wishing that Alyss had not been subjected to the corruption of the White Fang like she had been with her old friend. Ruby was just sad, wishing that things would just be normal for Alyss.

"The strangest thing is that we're all glad it happened." Jace said, breaking the silence.

"What?" Ruby asked, "You're _glad_ that the Fang did that?"

"Not for what my father did to mom... but for causing me to be here," Alyss answered her, "I met my mate because of all that, so I'm content."

"And we're all glad for what happened to me as a kid," Jace said, "Me, dad, Lilith, and Alyss. We wouldn't be happy right now if it wasn't for what happened to us back then."

"That's one way to look at it, I guess," Ruby said, "You're happy now. That's all that matters."

"Yeah... That's what matters." Blake agreed.

Jace started smiling again and kissed Alyss on the cheek. "See? I told you you could do it."

"Thanks for jumping in when you did," Alyss said and leaned her head into his shoulder, "I knew I needed you to be here."

"Now that that's out of the way..." Ruby looked over to the desks and saw what was sitting on top of Alyss', "Where'd the cute kitty statue come from?"

Jace grinned. "A gift from dad to welcome the new kitten into his family."


	47. Chapter 47: Road to Vytal

**AN: A quick note about this act after this chapter. It'll be changing perspectives a bit between JKDW and SLVR. There are going to be a few timeskips, just as a heads up. This is basically the final act other than a few epilogue chapters, so there's that too. I hope you have fun reading.**

 **Chapter Forty Seven**

 **Road to** **Vytal**

Jace swung _Legacy_ in a wide arc, releasing his grip on one hand and sending his blade all around him, slicing down training bots that came at him. He noticed they had been upgraded from what was there before. These attacked harder and faster, and were a bit harder to take down as well. When Jace thought more about it, he remembered that Glynda told him they were battle droids donated by Atlas to every acadamy to use for training their students. It was a step up from what basic droids were there before, which only ran, swung a blade, and repeated. And these were apparently as easy to repair, if not a bit more difficult.

These newer droids gave more of a challenge. They did more than the old ones and they actually dodged attacks. The best part, to Jace at least, was that they had been modified with difficulty levels like the old ones.

One sent its blade toward Jace in a side cut and he jumped back from it, turning as he went to send the edge of his blade through another bot. Another swung at him from behind but Raine was there, thrusting her blade through its neck. She pulled it out then sliced its head in half as Jace swung _Legacy_ over her head, taking down a bot that jumped at them.

That was the last one in the group that they activated for training. They would have went for a higher number than fifteen, but Glynda had put that as the limit students were allowed to fight with two people and thirty for a whole team, and then that was it for a day. It had done its purpose, though. Alyss and Auron had went before them to take on a group of bots. They all did that to shake any rust off from two months of inaction. Plus, they wanted to train for the tournament, and Jace _really_ wanted to train to go against Genesis.

Auron tossed Jace and Raine a bottle of water each. "Y'all didn't look too rusty at all." He remarked.

"It kinda felt like it, though." Jace said and took a seat next to Alyss.

"It's been two months since we really fought anything," Raine said, "It's just a bit weird to be back and fighting. It's the longest I've gone without training in a long time."

"Well, me and Jace fought some Grimm on the way to the clearing a few weeks ago," Alyss said, still a bit winded from her and Auron's fight, "I didn't feel too bad at all."

Jace shrugged. "I guess it's just my mind making me think I've got rust since I haven't been fighting a lot. Should clear up soon, though."

"What are we gonna do now?" Alyss asked the team, "We hit our bot limit for the day."

"We could rest up and go spar against each other for a bit," Raine suggested, "Or we could just take it slow for a few days until classes start."

Something immediately came to Jace's mind and he grinned widely. "I have an idea for the tournament, and in case we just need to do it."

"What would that be?" Auron asked him.

"What if we trained using each other's weapons?"

"The hell are you talkin' about?" Auron cocked an eyebrow skeptically.

"Like for if something happened and we needed to use a weapon that wasn't our own," Jace explained, "Plus if we're not separated, we could pass off our weapons to each other to confuse the living fuck out of our opponents in the tournament."

"That sounds like it won't work." Raine deadpanned.

"That's why we train for a little bit every day trying it out," Jace said, excited about the idea, "It'll be really weird, I know, but just think about how good it could do in the long run. Plus the only other one here that could hold _Legacy_ easily is Auron."

"You don't think I can hold your sword?" Raine asked him.

"You're the smallest one here," Jace replied, "I don't doubt that you can hold it, I _highly_ doubt you can use it."

"How about we come back in here tomorrow and I try it?" Raine suggested.

"If you want to," Jace grinned, "How does everyone feel about my idea?"

"I say we give it a shot," Alyss said, "It's an interesting idea and we never know what could happen. Jace's arm could malfunction on a mission and he probably won't have his temporary. He'd probably have to use your sword, Raine. Or _Last Call_ since it's made to be used with one hand."

"I kinda like the idea too," Auron agreed to it after a few moments, "It makes sense. It'll add somethin' to every time we train too. Keep it from gettin' stale on us since we'll be doin' a lot o' that."

Jace grinned more at the agreements he heard. "Give it some time and I'm sure it'll work out enough to where we'll be decent with each other's weapons."

Raine nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure it would be useful. Let's give it a shot sometime. I might say something to Remington about that."

"You think that might be a new part o' Ranger trainin'?" Auron asked her.

"If he thinks it's a worthwhile thing, then it's a big possibility."

"Preacher oughtta be good, then," Auron said, "He knows a good amount about how to use _Last Call_ or my dad's weapon, _Jackhammer_."

They all left the training room after calling in one of the mechanics for the droids. They waited for him to arrive and they helped with cleaning the broken bots up, then they left to their dorm where they all took showers to both ease their muscles a bit and to wash sweat off. It took less time to do that since Jace and Alyss usually shared showers now. After the showers, everyone settled down for the day and prepared for classes. Alyss limited herself on drinking her special coffee, waiting until she could hopefully buy it from Caitlyn.

"I know I can't wait to see what Alyss is gonna look like trying to swing _Legacy_ around." Jace said with a grin as the two laid on his bed.

Alyss let out a short laugh. "Ha! _That'll_ go smoothly for sure." She said sarcastically.

"As smooth as sandpaper." Auron chuckled.

Raine walked over to where _Legacy_ was leaning agaunst the wall. She tilted her head a bit, her ears twitching in curiosity, and grabbed the hilt, then she lifted it up with one hand. Her muscles strained a bit, but she held it easily and she put it over her shoulder, looking at everyone and smirking at their looks of shock. "Easy."

"Gods, _Amaranth_ is no joke," Alyss said, "You must be really strong to hold that so easy."

"Pushups, pullups, lifting weights," Raine named off her excercises for her arm strength, " _Amaranth_ just amplified those workouts. I should train you all to at least be decent with a bow."

"Good luck with that," Auron said, "I tried out Emowyn's bow a long time ago an' I woulda lost all her arrows if she didn't bring 'em back with her aura."

"Don't practice until you get it right. Practice until you never get it wrong," Raine said and returned her leader's sword to where it leaned, "Family saying. You probably heard that from Em a lot, right?"

Auron nodded. "A few times."

Jace grinned as he looked at the height difference between his partner and his sword. "I've never noticed that _Legacy_ was actually your height until you held it."

Raine shrugged. "It's a bit smaller than my bow in its full form, but it's pretty big. Weighs like an Ursa, though."

"It's gonna be even more fun to see you try to use it."

"I like a challenge."

* * *

Over the next few weeks, everything picked up around campus with the beginning of classes. Team JKDW decided to slow down on training while they dealt with schoolwork, even though Jace wanted to spend most of his time sparring. That, and he wanted to make trips to his apple dealer. He wasn't able to do that due to the brunt of schoolwork and homework he had to do. At the end of a Friday, when things seemed to have died down a bit, he and his whole team ventured into Vale to find the dog Faunus named Caitlyn.

"Y'know, I never got a chance to meet her," Auron said as he drove his truck down the street, "I can't remember, though."

"Not unless you found her by yourself." Jace replied, sitting in the back seat for a change with Alyss next to him.

"They good with humans?" Auron asked, "I mean, I can't imagine they'd stay here if they didn't like 'em all."

"They're fine, don't be nervous," Raine told him, "I've known Caitlyn since I was a pup around her son's age. She's one of the friendliest people you could meet."

"She has oranges, just so you know." Alyss told him.

Auron grinned. "Great. Been awhile since I had one from Calm. Think I'll make a good first impression?"

"Is giving jerky always how you're gonna greet someone?" Alyss asked him.

"If I got a few days to wait before I actually meet 'em, yeah," Auron answered her, "Jace has been wantin' to go for the last couple weeks, so I made some when our work tapered off a bit. I'm also droppin' some off to Shyla. She gets off work in a little bit."

"That's fine with me. It would be nice to see her again," Jace said, "Isn't she working on a few things for you?"

Auron nodded. "Yep. She's designin' a few mags an' a new reciever for _Last Call_. And she's gettin' me the things I need to make my revolvers break-action. I hope I ain't askin' too much of her."

"I doubt she cares," Alyss told him, "She probably wants you to win the tournament and show off a few Century Arms modifications." She said playfully.

Auron laughed at that. "I'll be showin' 'em off, alright. Hell, I'll wear their logo on my back if it'll get her a raise an' help her out. I'm gonna try an' put some lien back an' try to help her get a bit of a bigger apartment."

Raine glanced over to him. "Do you plan on moving in with her after we graduate?"

Auron nodded. "If I don't fuck our relationship up, then I'd like to."

"Don't talk like that," Alyss said, "I doubt with what Shyla's said, you could do anything to mess your relationship up. You guys are great for each other."

"Thanks, Aly. I'm tryin' everything in my power to keep her happy."

"I'll probably move into Vivi's house in Menagerie. I can't remember what village she said it was. I think Kuo Kuana," Raine said for herself, "She never says anything about it. She doesn't really think about it much since she never goes there. We should really get a couple Rangers there to help keep an eye on things."

"Maybe you should suggest it to your commandant," Jace told her, "He already said yes to trying my idea, which is awesome. That would probably be really good for them and I'm sure Blake's dad would need the help from time to time."

Raine nodded. "I'll ask him about it... Actually, I'll call him later. I'll ask if he can come to Beacon so I can talk with him in person about it."

Jace looked at her and saw that she looked excited at the prospect. "You're gonna ask if you and Vivi can be assigned there after you graduate, aren't you?"

"Stop reading my mind!" Raine half-heartedly yelled.

Auron pulled his truck to a stop when he saw a stand of fruits attended by two dog Faunus. Caitlyn and Mabari. They noticed it stop and looked over as everyone got out of the truck. They caught sight of Jace and Alyss and Caitlyn held her hand over her shoulder, tilting her head at them. They waved and nodded with smiles on their faces as they walked closer to them.

"Hello everyone," Caitlyn greeted them all, "I haven't seen you two in a bit. Class?"

Jace nodded. "Yeah, that's it. I would've been here for my apples a lot sooner if it wasn't for that."

"Congrats, you two," Mabari said to the young couple, sitting up more in his seat, "I figured you two would wait until you were out of Beacon to do something."

Alyss shook her head. "We might've regretted it if we didn't. It's kind of as simple as that."

"Young love is one of the best things to see," Caitlyn smiled and hugged them both, "Good to see you both again. And you, Raine."

"You too, Caitlyn. Same with your big puppy here."

Mabari rolled his eyes. "Good to see you too, Raine."

"Where's Jack at?" Alyss asked.

"He's staying with his friend for the day." Mabari answered her.

"Who's your friend?" Caitlyn asked, looking at Auron.

"Hey there," Auron greeted the two, "I'm Auron Karmine, their teammate an' cook."

"Nice to meet someone as tall as me for a change," Mabari said with a grin, standing up and sticking his hand out, "I'm Mabari Reigns. And this is Caitlyn, my mate. I'm sure you already knew that though."

Auron nodded and shook his hand. "These two said as much. Here, have a meetin' gift." He reached out with his other hand, holding a bag of jerky.

"What's that?" Mabari asked.

"Deer jerky. I figured I'd go ahead an' make some to give since I was meetin' ya today. If what everyone else thinks is to go by, then you'll love it."

Auron handed the bag over to them and Caitlyn smiled. "That's very thoughtful of you, Auron. Thank you."

Auron nodded. "Don't mention it. I wanted to make a good first impression."

Caitlyn opened the bag and her ears perked up at the smell. "There are times like this where I am _so_ glad to have my sense of smell." She remarked as she reached into the bag.

"The same with me. This smells amazing." Mabari said and took a piece that Caitlyn handed him.

"That's what every Faunus said that I've had try it." Auron said with a grin.

Both Faunus took bites of their pieces, each set of eyes closing a bit. "Do you happen to sell this?" Caitlyn asked, "This has to be one of the greatest things I've ever tasted."

Auron shook his head. "Not for sale, but I'll make some for ya every once in a while. I usually do that for all our friends."

"You. I like you." Mabari said and grabbed another piece.

"Well, I think you made a good impression on them." Alyss said to Auron.

"Yeah, I'll say." The gunslinger laughed.

"Be sure to save some for Jack." Jace said to the two Faunus.

"I am not leaving our son out of this," Caitlyn assured him, "Before we get carried away, are you here for the usual?" She asked Jace and Alyss.

The two nodded. "Yeah. And Auron's here for oranges."

"You need to start selling black walnuts," Raine suggested, "I might be the only customer, but I really want some and I can't find them in stores here. There are a few trees around the village to use."

Caitlyn _hummed_. "I'll put in a request when I send the farmers' cut of the lien over."

"Okay, thanks."

You know Nia's gonna catch wind of that and send them over herself." Mabari said.

Raine shrugged. "I know she can still get out and get them. As long as I can get them too."

"Oh, I have something for sale that Alyss is just going to love." Caitlyn said, gaining Alyss' full attention.

"What is it?" Alyss asked hopefully.

"Cherry-flavored coffee."

Alyss smiled widely. "That stuff is amazing! This is great!"

"You'll get a discount for them since you're such loyal customers." Caitlyn said.

"That's even better, " Jace said with a smile, "Thank you, Caitlyn."

* * *

"She should be home, right?" Jace asked Auron when the truck stopped outside of the apartment complex that Shyla lived in.

Auron nodded as he shut his truck off. "Yeah, I just got a reply sayin' she just got done takin' a shower. It shouldn't take real long for us to be here."

"If you wanna stay, then we can just hang out for a bit and go back to Beacon on foot," Alyss said, "You know we don't mind."

Auron nodded. "I probably will, then. As long as all o' you are okay with goin' back without my truck."

Jace shrugged. "We'll think of something."

"I'm sure you will." Auron remarked and they all exited his truck and went into the building.

"How are her neighbors here?" Raine asked Auron.

"She said they're friendly, but I ain't met any," Auron replied, "I ain't seen any Faunus around the place. I've only been down this hall, up the elevator, an' down the hall to Shy's room. I dunno if Faunus live here or if they're even welcome here. She's kinda been livin' here since before she started talkin' to Faunus."

Raine shrugged as she made sure the Ranger emblem she had patched into her dark-green cloak's shoulder was clearly visible. "Hopefully this patch and my bow will make them keep their mouths shut if they have a problem with us."

"It's like what I said before," Jace said, "No one will do anything unless they think they're protected. We might hear a few things behind our backs, though."

Alyss put her head on his shoulder as they walked. "Remember to just ignore them, sweetie. Leave the talking to me."

Jace snorted. "What, so you can make them mad?" He asked with a grin, "I'll keep quiet."

They entered the elevator and Auron pressed the button to take them to the fifth floor. They rode it up for a few moments, listening to the music that came from the speaker in the corner, and they stopped on the floor.

They arrived at Shyla's apartment and Auron knocked on the door. "Gimme a second!" They heard the weapon designer call from inside.

Auron grinned. "She's just throwin' some clothes on, in case you're wonderin'."

"Why would we be wondering that?" Alyss asked, "It usually takes a few seconds for someone to open their door."

Auron shrugged. "Just to let you know she walks around half naked here. She ain't gonna do it unless all o' you are okay an' she's comfortable with doin' it around you."

Raine grinned. "Maybe if me and Vivi start living together after I become a full-fledged Ranger, then I'll make a rule that she can't wear a shirt in the house."

"Would you _really_ need to make a rule?" Jace asked.

Raine shrugged. "Probably not. She'd take her shirt off if I asked."

"Even in public?" Alyss asked with a grin.

Raine shrugged. "Maybe. I'd do the same for her."

The door opened after a second more and Shyla jumped into Auron, hugging him. "Welcome back, Aure."

Auron kissed her on top of the head. "Blame classes. Woulda been here more if it wasn't for that."

"Yeah, work is a chore too," Shyla remarked, "We're just about done with your things. Give it until Monday."

"Good. Gotta get that done with my weapons an' get used to 'em before the tournament."

"Good to see you again, Shyla," Alyss greeted her, "How have you been since the beach?"

"Pretty good," Shyla answered her, "Good to see you guys too. I've been spending most of my free time looking at different apartments bigger than this. Not really finding much that's in my spending range."

"Do what Smoke did," Raine said, "Go find a spot outside the city and have a house built."

Shyla laughed. "Enticing offer, but I'd rather stay in the city if you don't mind. Unless it's Auron's house."

"Auron should take you to see Heaven's Clearing." Jace said.

Shyla looked at him strangely. "What is that?"

"Oh, you came up with a name for it?" Alyss asked.

Jace nodded. "I need to tell mom," He said and looked back at Shyla, "It's a clearing I found when I was a kid. A little ways behind my house down a path. It's really awesome and relaxing. It's where me and Alyss mated. We put our Marks on each other's shoulder, if you didn't know."

"I didn't know, but that sounds interesting," Shyla remarked, "Anyway! Come on in. I ordered pizza."

"What kind?" Raine asked.

"I got three. the place can do some great combinations, but I went simple. Cheese and chicken, one with little slivers of tuna and other fish, and just meat-lover's."

"That sounds awesome," Jace said, "It's been awhile since I've had pizza."

"Did you bring the jerky?" Shyla asked Auron.

He nodded and grinned, holding the bag up. "Like I always try to do. You need to save some an' let Amy try it when she's here."

Shyla shrugged. Auron took his boots, coat, and hat off and put them over in the corner and on the coat rack while the other's followed with their footwear. Shyla and Auron sat on the couch, with Shyla sitting in Auron's lap, and Jace and Alyss sat next to them. Raine took her bow and quiver off her back and set them against the back of the chair and sat in it.

Shyla leaned back into Auron and he put his hands on her hips, lightly tapping his fingers. "I can't help but just dig into your jerky," Shyla told him, opening the bag and putting a piece in her teeth, "It's the best."

"That's what everyone says," Auron grinned, "How's Amy been anyway? She alright?"

Shyla nodded. "Nothing since last week. It was really bad after her therapy, but she's fine now."

"That's physical therapy from where... _that_ happened, right?" Raine asked.

"Yeah. I'm glad she's at least getting help for her back, but... the way it makes her feel is just horrible," Shyla said sadly, "Have you told them, Auron?"

"Nope," Auron said, knowing what she meant, "Neither you or Amy said I could, so I didn't."

"I don't mind if you do. I just don't know about Amy."

Alyss _hummed_ a bit, causing everyone to look at her. Jace smiled. "I know what you're thinking." He remarked and reached a hand up to begin rubbing one of Alyss' ears.

She giggled and pushed her head against his hand. "You know me."

"What exactly are you thinking?" Shyla asked.

Alyss turned to her. "Can I meet her soon?"


	48. Chapter 48: Future Plans

**Chapter Forty Eight**

 **Future Plans**

There was something to be said about Aulin's attention span. She usually zoned out of topics that didn't interest her in class, and perhaps that was why her grades were just above failing, and Alex was the same way. She could care less about most land-dwelling Grimm. And she probably _would_ care less about them if it wasn't for the fact that she and Alex usually fought them on their short strolls in the Emerald Forest. Truly, the only Grimm that walked on land that she had some interest in were Stalkers, Armaddons, Goliaths, and Sand Leviathans. She wanted any tip and advantage against them if she could find it. Especially Stalkers considering they could be anywhere in the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo now.

"...Now, it's time for our daily discussion of aquatic Grimm. Specifically, Sea Dragons..." Port said after a long-winded story about... something that Aulin or Alex didn't listen to at all.

 _That_ was the subject the two shared a great interest in, and both of them perked up. Any test they took for Grimm Studies, they usually barely recieved a passing grade. They got the answers wrong about land-dwelling Grimm most of the time, but usually aced the sections about the Grimm of the seas.

Bell had noticed that the two really put pencil to paper when that subject came up. She never questioned it, but she always tried to get them to pay more attention to everything so they could bring their grades up. It was to no avail, though. The two just _would not_ pay much attention to anything else but aquatic Grimm or anything about the sea.

After another half hour of listening to Port go on and on about how he rode a Sea Dragon across the gap between Vale and Patch before he killed it, the bell rang to end the class.

"Miss Sylvana, mister Reznor, could I speak with you for a moment?" Port asked the two.

Jace tilted his head, turning around. "Umm, do you mean me or Alex, sir?"

Port chuckled at the question. "Not you, Jace. I would like to speak with Alex."

Alex and Aulin nodded and Aulin turned to Bell and Inuvali. "Catch you guys in a few."

The two nodded. "Okay," Inuvali said, "We'll give you our notes to copy-oh what am I saying. You two won't study them." He finished dryly. After thinking on it for awhile, he decided to keep the braid in his hair with the feather.

Alex shrugged. "Can't help it, Inu. Half of this stuff just doesn't interest us."

"Well you both need to try to work on that," Bell insisted, "This year is only going to be tougher on us and you will need to focus on everything."

"Don't worry about us, Belly," Aulin grinned, "We got you guys to get us by."

Bell sighed. "I will not always be able to help. Now go talk to the professor."

Aulin and Alex nodded and went to speak to Port while the others left. "What did you need, sir?" Alex asked the professor.

Port leaned against his desk, looking at them curiously. "I've noticed this last year, but I thought nothing of it then. You both have answered every question correctly in your tests about aquatic Grimm, but almost always answer incorrectly to anything having to do with most other Grimm. Now, I talked with professor Wolfe of this too, and he says you both are the same about the oceans and seas, that you answer correctly to every question about those subjects as well, and fail with land. Why is that?"

"It's simple, really," Aulin answered him, "When I was little, I always loved the sea but I could never actually go out there."

"And I met a ship captain in Atlas before I came here," Alex added, "His name was Connor Stone. He said his crew goes out to hunt aquatic Grimm and that they're some of the only few that do, so I want to join his crew and help with that when I graduate."

"And when Alex told me about that, I wanted to do it too," Aulin said, "It would let me go out to sea like I've wanted to do as a little girl. The seas and aquatic Grimm just have our attention a lot more than the land and the Grimm on it does."

Port thought about the answer he heard from them as he nodded slowly. "This world could certainly use a few more Huntsmen with a passion about that subject. Even more, it could use those who excel in both areas. Nevertheless, I won't keep you both any longer. I only wanted to know why your grades are like they are. Have a good day."

The young couple nodded. "You too, sir." Alex replied and they left the lecture hall.

"When do you think we should tell everyone?" Aulin asked Alex, "Y'know... about what we wanna do?"

Alex shrugged. "We should've already told them, but... it's not really that normal to want to be stuck on a ship for our lives. It's kinda hard to tell them since we want to do that."

Aulin laughed a bit. "They wouldn't care. I mean, they'd support us. We know they would all support us, but it's just hard to say it."

"Alright, fuck it," Alex said and took his scroll from his pocket, "We'll do it after classes today." He said and typed out a message to Bell, Inuvali, and all of team JKDW.

Aulin nodded a few times. "Yeah... Yeah! It's time to stop being so fucking nervous about it! We'll tell them all today, and then we're gonna focus better on other shit!"

Alex grinned and kissed her. "There's that confidence I love."

Aulin grabbed him and returned the kiss very slowly, pushing her tongue into his mouth. She pulled back before he reacted and smirked. "There's a lot you love about me."

Alex shrugged, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Emphasis on ' _a lot_ '."

* * *

Aulin grinned as she stood across from her opponent in sparring class. Glynda had put her against a girl called Tina that used a tower shield and a flail. She was six feet and three inches tall, muscular, and had bright blue hair that was parted even and straight, reaching the middle of her back.

Aulin took her whip, _Elementia_ , from her belt and waited for the signal to start the fight. This would decide definitively who's team would go to the tournament. The class was to be made longer for the next couple of weeks, letting all members of a team fight separately against the members of another team. It was an important fight, so Aulin focused herself on what she knew of Tina. She was a bit nimble on her feet, able to roll out of the way of attacks. She also knew that Tina didn't like her, which was apparently caused by how she carried herself.

"Begin!" Glynda called and the fight began.

Aulin cracked her whip toward Tina, sending a short barrage of ice shards at her. The spikes struck her large shield and exploded in icy flowers as she moved in, spinning her flail around as she came closer. Aulin cracked _Elementia_ downward, striking the ground and causing a wall of icy spikes to rise and cut Tina off. The girl scoffed and strafed past the wall, and Aulin moved to the other side of it, sending more ice shards at the shield wielder.

A few hit the girl's side, taking her aura down by ten percent. She sent her flail down and broke the ice between the two, then she charged through. She caught Aulin by surprise and plowed through her with her shield, knocking her down and sending her aura down by fifteen percent. Tina brought her flail up and swung the heavy ball and chain down against her. Aulin brought her legs up and rolled backward, avoiding the flail as it crashed against the ground. Aulin came to her feet and jumped backwards, lashing out with _Elementia_ , whipping Tina hard across the face and taking her aura down by five, making them even.

Aulin kept moving back and cracked her whip a few more times, spending the rest of the dust in its hilt and sending larger shards of ice that sent Tina to the ground with the force they had hit her with. That took another twenty off her aura limit. Aulin took the empty vial out and replaced it with one filled with red, then she flared the burn dust through the length of her weapon. She ran back in and cracked her whip multiple more times, sending waves of fire and fireballs toward Tina.

The girl could block them all easily, but Aulin was moving around her as she sent the fire, effectively blinding her with the brightness of the fire that hit her shield. When Aulin was past the edge of the shield, she switched _Elementia_ to her right hand and summoned a longsword of ice from her left hand with her semblance, as clear as water with tendrils of her light-blue aura swirling through the blade. She charged in quickly and struck out at her exposed side multiple times before she could turn her shield toward her. Aulin jumped up, planting her feet on the top edge of the shield, then she jumped again, bringing her knees up to her chest. She sent her feet down hard into Tina's shoulders, sending her straight to the ground with a hard double-stomp.

"The match is over," Glynda announced, "The winner is Aulin Sylvana, and her team is now eligible to compete in the Vytal Tournament."

Aulin stepped away from Tina and looped _Elementia_ around the hook on her belt. She offered her hand to help the girl up, but she smacked it away and stood to her feet, storming off to the locker room. Aulin shrugged and shook her head as she waited a few moments, then she went to the same one to deposit her weapon.

She heard a locker slamming shut and shook her head again as she opened hers up, quickly putting _Elementia_ inside. She shut her locker and left the room, then she walked up to where her teammates were sitting. She sat down next to Alex and leaned back, sighing loudly.

"I can never understand her problem with me." She said as Glynda called on the next two students to spar.

"Don't think on it too long," Inuvali told her, "It's not your problem."

"Kinda _is_ if I'm pissing her off so much." Aulin remarked.

Bell sighed. "She has no reason to be mad at you, correct?"

"As far as I know, I haven't done anything to her."

"Then she is only mad over nothing. How you carry yourself is none of her concern."

Alex chuckled a bit. "How you carry yourself is the sexiest thing to me."

Aulin kept herself from laughing loudly, only giggling. "Oh, Alex. You always know how to make me feel warm inside."

Both of their teammates groaned. "Good gods..." They said in unison.

* * *

"You guys are in too? Awesome!" Alex said excitedly when his and his brother's team met up in the latter's dorm room.

Jace nodded. "Yeah, we're in. I really wish the whole team had to fight at the same time to qualify. It wouldn't really be fair if a couple of people lost in a one-on-one fight when the tournament is gonna start out being team versus team, then that team isn't able to get in the tournament."

"No, it wouldn't be fair at all," Alyss agreed, "Like if me or Raine lost. We know Jace and Auron really want to fight against Genesis and Pyrrha in the tournament. I'd feel really horrible if I caused them to not do that."

Raine nodded in agreement. "Same with me. I don't have anyone that I really want to go against, so I'd hate it if our two members of the _Big Fucking Sword_ club don't get to fight who they want."

"Hell, we got two more years," Auron said, "Even if we didn't make it today, then we got next year an' the year after. If we didn't get in, then no big deal but I'm glad we did so we can be part o' the fun."

"We should maybe talk to Ozpin and Glynda about it," Aulin suggested, "Maybe it can be changed up next year because we kinda cut it close today. Bell lost hers and Alex almost lost his before he _finally_ pulled his semblance out of his ass."

Alex shrugged. "I don't like relying on it until I need it."

"I was the only one that came close to losing on our part," Alyss said, "The halberd guy from CRDL was tougher than I remember from last year."

"You mean Sky?" Jace asked.

"Yeah, him."

"We all qualified. We can at least be grateful for that," Inuvali said, "Worrying about qualifying matches can come closer to next year."

"Right," Bell agreed, "Right now, we should all focus on training. And what Aul and Alex want to talk to us all about."

"Yeah, what was that about?" Auron asked the two.

Aulin and Alex sat at the table, silent for a few moments as they thought of where to start. "Well, we have our plan set out for when we graduate," Aulin started, "It's not the most common thing to want to do."

"We're joining the crew of a ship," Alex continued, "I talked with a captain before I came to Beacon. His name is Connor Stone. He told me that he goes out to hunt aquatic Grimm with his crew and they transport cargo everywhere, even to Menagerie. Since I met him, I've wanted to join his crew when I'm done here."

"And I just always wanted to actually see the seas," Aulin came back a bit sheepishly, "When we were in Patch was the first time I've seen it up close like that and it's the first time I've been swimming in the sea too. Since I was a little girl, I wanted to go out across the oceans and explore. Since Alex told me what he wanted to do, it's what I want to do too. I'd be helping out against Grimm, taking cargo to people that need it, and I get to do what I dreamed about as a kid. We kept it to ourselves because it's weird, but we thought it was about time we told everyone."

"Connor Stone?" Jace echoed the name.

Alex nodded. "Yeah. That's his name."

"I know his cousin Viktor. He pilots the _Ravensword_ in Ironwood's fleet. Fastest airship in the fleet too. It's what dad used to get to Pyne so fast before."

"What do you guys think?" Aulin asked everyone.

Alyss laughed a bit. "Does anyone else _really_ have any plans? I don't. I just wanna heal injuries and help people like that."

"I could be Shyla's bodyguard for when she moves up in the company," Auron said with a grin, "I don't think any Huntsman would think while they were trainin' that they wanted to be bodyguards. Other than that idea, I got nothin' other than just do jobs."

"I thought about becoming the head priestess at the church," Bell said, "But I do not know about that. I want to help people like Aly does."

"My plans are with the Rangers." Raine said.

"And I'm gonna just go all over if I can," Jace said, "Keep the shit that happened to me from happening to anyone else."

Aulin and Alex turned to Inuvali. "What about you, Inu?"

The wolf Faunus shrugged. "I only thought of returning to Menagerie to help where I'm needed. I would like to help colonize more of the continent. But..." He grinned a bit, "I might stick with both of you for a little while longer."

Bell nodded at the offer. "I may do that as well. After all, I would not want to be away from my family for too long. I am sure the ship would need some type of healer."

"You two would really stick with us like that?" Aulin asked, "Even if it's gonna be boring as all hell half the time?"

"And Connor said that there are a good amount of storms," Alex added, "Some really bad. Are you sure you'd want to go with us, Bell?"

She nodded multiple times. "I may not like stormy weather, but I would not like being able to see my family for extended periods of time either. You will not be getting rid of me that easily."

"You both seriously want to join a ship's crew with us?" Aulin asked them and they both nodded. Aulin started smiling widely, "You guys are great. Thanks for wanting to stick by us."

"I think it's awesome that you guys want to do that," Jace said, "There are only a few people that hunt those types of Grimm, right?"

"Yeah," Alex answered him, "Port told us that the world could use more Huntsmen like that."

"And he is right," Bell said, "I will do the best I can to help as well.

"So will I." Inuvali added.

Alyss smiled. "If you guys ever need a doctor for awhile, call me. I'll go with you for a few months."

Auron snorted. "Yeah, an' you'll get a couple o' fighters to keep things off the ship too."

"Damn right about that." Jace agreed and grinned.

"Of course," Alex laughed, "One kitten won't go anywhere without the other following right after."

* * *

The weekend came and everyone could actually relax as they all had their homework finished, even Alex and Aulin, which was amazing. Aulin was walking around the courtyard with Alex while Bell and Inuvali were at the gym, watching Jace and Alyss have their pushup rematch with Yang and Weiss. They would join in on spectating later, as they guessed it would take a long time to finish considering both Jace and Yang's strength.

They walked past the main statue in the courtyard and the girl that Aulin had fought, Tina, was leaning against it. Aulin glanced at her and noticed that she began glaring at her, even scowling. Aulin gritted her teeth. That had been going on since the year before. Tina would just glare and scowl at her. Aulin decided that enough was enough.

"Go on ahead. Let me know if someone wins." She told Alex.

He looked at her curiously. "Okay. Why do you want me to go on?"

Aulin sighed. "I'll tell you later. Now go, okay? This might get... uncomfortable."

"What do you...?" Alex caught sight of Tina in the corner of his eye, "Oh. Have fun with that, babe."

"I won't." Aulin deadpanned.

"Well, I can cheer you up later." Alex offered.

Aulin gave a small smile. "Yeah, I'll need it."

Alex walked on to find the gym and Aulin turned toward Tina, who kept staring at her. The faded-purple-haired teen sighed. "Tina, what in the hell is your problem with me?"

"What makes you think I have a problem with you?" Tina asked.

"Okay, despite what a lot of people say, I'm _not_ a dumbass broad," Aulin stated plainly, "You give me the evil-eye every time you see me. What did I do? Out of all the times we've interacted, which was our match, what did I do to make you so pissy. At least give me a reason."

"Alright, I'll give you an answer. I don't hate you," Tina said and stood up straight from the statue, "I hate how you act. I hate your personality. I hate how you dress. I hate almost everything about you, but I don't hate _you_ yourself.'

Aulin raised an eyebrow. "Sounds to me like you just hate me altogether."

"Well maybe I do!" Tina yelled at her, then lowered her voice back down, "You walk around looking like _that_ ," She pointed to Aulin's exposed midriff and her legs, all clearly visible with her usual outfit, "and you distract just about every guy when they're talking to someone. One second, I'm trying to talk with someone about something and then you walk by and they just zone out staring at everything and completely ignore what I say."

"You're blaming me for that and not the people you talk to?" Aulin asked incredulously, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's a choice on their part. It's really not my fault."

"It is when you catch them looking and wink at them. The hell is that about, huh?" Tina asked, raising an eyebrow, "Are you not happy with the guy you have that you need to go around giving flirty little winks? Wiggling your hips for-"

"Alright, I've heard enough of that shit," Aulin interrupted her harshly, giving her own hard glare, "Do you think I just see Alex as some piece of meat or something? I _don't_. He's the one guy I love in Beacon or any other fucking academy. Don't get my flirting with everyone confused for wanting something else. You know what? Sure, I dress like a skank and sure, I flirt like a whore. I flirt with almost everyone because it's the personality I found for myself when I came to this fucking school. It's how I coped with being an orphan."

"How does that make sense?" Tina asked, " _Coping_? Seriously? You expect me to believe that?"

"I don't give a flying fuck what you believe," Aulin retorted heatedly, "But just understand something. People have different ways to cope with different things. I started flirting like that because I felt lonely, and I know it wasn't the best way of making good friends but I found the guy I love because of that and jealous fucks like _you_ aren't changing that."

At that, Aulin ignored what Tina was about to say and walked away, honestly hoping to the gods that she never talks to her again.

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: You know when two people have the same last name and a teacher calls on mister *insert last name* to answer a question? Now imagine that, but they have the same first _and_ last name and one gets called to the office. Now imagine _that_ , but they have the same middle name as well. That's what I had to go through in school because my cousin and I litterally have the same name. They would call our name, I would go to the office thinking it's me, and then I found out it wasn't me but it was my cousin who did stupid bullshit and that wasted my time. Like they've called into the specific class that I was in and told me to go when they should know that I've never done stupid shit in school with my record.**

 **It was quite annoying.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a nice day!**


	49. Chapter 49: Never Let It Go

**AN: I just want to say that I had this chapter written way before Volume 5 started. Haven here isn't anything like what it is in the show, and I'll admit that I was too lazy to try to change it much and I apologize. Hopefully with that, it won't bug you.**

 **Anyway, let's get the chapter started.**

 **Chapter Forty Nine**

 **Never Let It Go**

"Ow, gods I hate flyin' now," Auron groaned after falling into a bed in JKDW's room in Haven's foreign student dorm building, "My back used to be good with it when I first went to Beacon. Now it's just annoyin' as hell."

The room was nearly like theirs back in Beacon, but it was a bit smaller and had more of a traditional look. Basically bare-bones with the beds, desks, and dressers. The walls were white with redwood support beams alomg the walls, separated by five feet. The beds were two on each side of the room, the heads against the wall. The dressers were next to the large window, separated by a few feet and the desks were against the wall in the corner to the right of the door. The main difference was that the room had a balcony with a roof, four chairs, and a small table. The window-slash-door was made up of multiple small panels of glass that had wood running all between them, with a foot of wood at the bottom.

"Quit being a baby," Jace said after dropping his bags over on the bed opposite of Auron, "Just pop it a few times. That usually helps me."

Alyss shuddered. "Not around me. That sound started grossing me out."

"Probably my fault," Jace admitted, "Sorry. I just like the feeling."

"I'll try it later." Auron said.

Raine chuckled. "I could try to stand on your back while you lay down. When I was younger, mom got me to do that when her back started hurting and she said it helped."

Auron thought about it for a few moments and shrugged. He moved positions on his bed and laid on his stomach. "Try it. It ain't gonna come close to what Shyla can do, though."

"Of course not. Raine won't be topless for it." Alyss grinned.

Auron rolled his eyes. "Because I can see her rubbin' my back when I'm layin' on my stomach. Yeah, sure," He said sarcastically, "Does make for a great sight when I turn around, to be honest."

Raine shook her head and took her boots off, then she climbed up to stand on his back. "Tell me if it's painful in a bad way." She said and started stepping in place, putting her feet to different places.

Auron felt his bones pop and he sighed. "This feels pretty good. Maybe I should get Shy to step all over me."

Jace laughed. "I never took you for that type of person, Auron."

"Says the person that loves gettin' scratched an' bit by his mate."

"Hey, I like that stuff from Vivi too," Raine said, "A lot of Faunus like that sort of thing."

Auron snorted out a laugh. "All y'all are fuckin' weird."

"Says the person letting someone literally walk all over him." Alyss said with a grin.

Auron huffed and closed his eyes. "Maybe Jace can let you do it to him."

Jace shrugged and pulled Alyss down into his bed, hugging her to him. "I wouldn't be opposed."

* * *

Auron stood outside headmaster Lionheart's office, standing in front of his assistant's desk. "It's been awhile since I've seen you, boy," The brown-haired, garnet-eyed, and clean-shaven man said to him with a grin, "How've ya been?"

"Pretty good, Lars. Pretty good," Auron answered him, "Things are great at Beacon. Grades are good enough for passin' an' I'm like fifth rank in combat class."

"Step down from one, right?" Lars asked.

Auron laughed. "Ain't no way I'm gettin' top spot with Pyrrha around. Few others are makin' it pretty hard to keep fifth, but it's fun."

"I'm sure it is." Lars replied as he heard the buzz of the small speaker on his desk.

"You may send him in now, Lars." Lionheart said through the speaker.

Lars pressed a button at the base of it. "Got it, sir," He said and let go of the button, looking back at Auron, "You heard him. Good seeing you again, kid."

Auron nodded. "You too, Lars."

Auron stepped to the door and opened it, then he walked inside. He smiled as he saw his former headmaster sitting behind his large, mahogany desk. He was rarely in the room during his time in Haven, and he was too annoyed to make out all the smaller details of it when he was last there. There was a lamp on the side of his desk next to his computer's holo-monitor. On either side of the room at the back wall behind the desk were two bookshelves, one on each side of the large window and both were stocked with different books, recreational or otherwise. On the ceiling was a fan, providing a small amount of cooling air to the room. There was an air conditioner, but Lionheart liked the aesthetic of the fan. To the right was a sitting area with a small table, a few chaors and a couch, and in front of the desk were two chairs as well. The light shining in the room from the window gave it a rather old-school look since the light was off. It lit the room up as much as it needed to be.

"Have a seat, Auron. It's good to see you again." Lionheart said to the gunslinger.

Auron sat down and nodded, taking off his hat. "You too, sir. How've you been?"

"I've been well, thank you. And you?"

"I'm doin' pretty well, myself," Auron replied, "My team's greater than I ever figured they'd be."

"That's good news. I apologize for making you wait. I recieved a call just after I called for you."

"That's fine. It was good to catch up with Lars a bit."

Lionheart nodded. "I heard about your leader. More specifically, what happened on your first mission and how he lost his arm."

Auron sighed. "Yeah, I shoulda guessed. I'm guessin' you heard a rumor an' you called Ozpin?"

"I did. Mister Reznor has a good heart and great will. And miss Wystar does as well, considering what Headmaster Ozpin relayed to me of her father."

"That, they do," Auron replied, "Despite what they went through, they're as happy as they can be. Nearly always smilin' an' laughin'. Alyss actually grew a kid's arm back too, back over summer break in Calm. Her semblance lets her heal injuries an' stuff like that."

"She grew a child's arm?" Lionheart asked in shock and awe, "That is amazing. A girl like her is a treasure to the world, no matter what anyone's views of the Faunus are."

Auron grinned. "She's been called an angel for it. She's pretty popular over in Calm.,

"I wouldn't be surprised," Lionheart gave a smile, "You've found a great team. I think fate played a part in taking you to them."

Auron snorted in laughter. "Fate by the name of a Petra Gigas. You know how my old team's doin'?"

"They've all found different callings and they are doing well. I thank the god of Light that they had no lasting trauma."

"Me, dad, Preacher, an' another Ranger went an' tracked that same Geist or Petra Gigas or whatever down before I went to Beacon. We killed it so it wouldn't cause anyone else problems."

"I heard as much. I have been thinking over something," Lionheart said, leaning back in his seat, "Your father isn't a Huntsman, correct?"

Auron shook his head. "Nope. He never got the chance before a lot 'o stuff happened at Shade a long time ago."

"Hmm..." Lionheart stroked his beard thoughtfully, "I've thought about giving him a role in Haven as a co-instructor for combat class. If he accepts, then it would prove to be a great help to professor Quill. She's been having a hard time lately with balancing between her pregnancy and her duties here," Lionheart chuckled a bit, "I tried giving her maternity leave, but she just will not accept. She can be stubborn."

"I didn't know she was havin' a kid," Auron said, "I hope dad takes that, then. Mom could keep miss Quill some company too while dad teaches the class. I was gonna head over to the house tomorrow. You want me to ask 'im about it?"

"If you would be so kind, it would make things easier on my part."

"Like how I immediately chose to go to Beacon when you brought it up before," Auron grinned, "I like makin' things easier for other people. Right now, my girlfriend is workin' on gettin' me a new coat with the Century Arms logo on the back. She's talkin' to her boss to get somethin' worked out with me. If they agree to it, then I'm givin' 'em some free advertisin' so my girlfriend can get a raise an' help her out."

"You'll forsake lien for yourself to let your girlfriend make more for her job, which I am assuming is at Century Arms?" Lionheart asked him.

Auron nodded. "That's my plan. She needs it to get a bigger place for herself to live in an' a good raise should help."

"It sounds like you care for her a great deal to do that for her. I am happy the move to Beacon worked out for you, Auron."

"Me too, sir."

* * *

The next day, Auron and Jace had been called about their vehicles, the person saying that they had been delivered to Mistral at the air docks closest to Haven. They had gone to retrieve them and then they took their teammates to Auron's home south of the city. They came to a stop next to what they knew was Preacher's old green truck, but didn't see Smoke's truck anywhere. They saw Preacher sitting on the porch with an older woman with striking silver hair and bright-blueeyes.

"Is it about time for the tournament?" Preacher asked from the porch as the group of teens walked up to the stairs.

"Few more months to go," Auron answered him, "Good to see ya, Preach. You too, Charity."

Charity nodded. "I hear you've been doing well, dear. Preacher tells me that you have a promising new team and a lovely and kind girlfriend."

Auron nodded back at her. "He definitely ain't wrong about Shyla. She's great an' my team's a lot more than promisin'," He grinned and put his arms around everyone the best he could, "Basically another family. Guys, this sweet ol' lady is Charity Harlow. Charity, these three are Jace, Alyss, an' Raine."

"It's nice to meet you all," Charity greeted the three teens, "Preacher told me about all of you and what you two have been through in the past," She said, looking at the two cat Faunus, "You've come a long way to get to this point in your lives. How does it feel now?"

"Going through everything that I've went through was tough," Jace answered her, "But with how happy I am now with my mate, it was all worth it and I'm glad it happened."

"And I feel the same way." Alyss said.

"Mates, huh?" Preacher grinned, "I know my fair share about that from Jax. First stage?"

The two nodded and Preacher grinned more. "Makes me wonder who's next outta everyone I know." He said, winking at Raine.

Raine blushed and crossed her arms. "Yeah... Who's next..."

" _You_ if you'd just ask Vivi already." Alyss told her.

"I need a good setting first. Something that I can think of on my own that I don't need to rely on others for," Raine sighed, "I can't think of anywhere right now."

"Give it time," Auron patted her on the back, "Where's mom an' dad at?" He asked the older couple.

"In the city buyin' groceries," Preacher told him, "Probably got caught up in talkin' to someone they know."

Auron _hummed_. "Well, anyone hungry? I can see what they got here now an' make somethin' up."

"That would be great..." Jace said, sounding a bit sad now, "I'm... gonna go walk for a bit. Is it okay if I get an apple from the tree?"

Auron nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Somethin' wrong?"

Jace sighed. "I just... need to clear my head about something. Maybe walking will help."

"You want me to walk with you?" Alyss asked him softly.

Jace nodded slowly. "Yeah. You'd probably help a lot."

"Just be back in time for supper." Auron told them.

"Okay," Jace said, "I hope we don't take too long."

He and Alyss walked off the porch and Raine sat down across from Preacher and Charity. They all watched after the mates, each with different expressions of worry on their faces.

"Any idea what his mood shift was about?" Preacher asked the teens.

Auron sighed. "He probably thought way back when his parents sold 'im. Even with what he said about bein' glad, it still don't sit right with 'im."

"If he's glad it happened...then he may be feeling guilty about all those other people that died," Charity said, watching as Jace lifted Alyss onto his shoulders so she could pick two apples from the tree, "I can understand why he would feel that way if that's the case."

Raine turned back from watching them and sighed. "I don't think he can ever let that go, even with what Haile told him."

"He knows he shouldn't think on it like this," Auron shook his head, "I guess somethin' like that is hard to just let go of. I'm gonna start fixin' somethin' now."

* * *

Jace took a bite of his apple and _hummed_ shortly. It wasn't as good as the ones from Calm, but it was still great to him. He swallowed the bite and sighed, trying to allow his mind to ease from its thoughts in Alyss' presence.

"I... don't like how I feel about what happened to me." Jace said after a few minutes of walking.

Alyss chewed the small bite of her apple that she took. Before replying, she swallowed it. "What do you mean?" She asked, feeling his guilt and saddness in her Mark. She tried to counteract those feelings by sending a bit of calmness to him.

Jace sighed, smiling a bit. "I never knew being mated would be this amazing..." He said, bringing his free hand up to place over the bruise on his shoulder, "You can keep me calm even better."

"I have to try my best." Alyss said, returning the smile.

Jace chuckled. "And I appreciate it. I just... feel so horrible for being glad. About the experiments, y'know... All of those people were tortured with dust and Grimm DNA and their bodies couldn't take it because that scientist never thought about aura. When he did... it was only me and Gen and he thankfully didn't try with the Grimm stuff. There were dozens of people that died and I'm glad... I'm-"

"Hang on, Jace," Alyss interrupted him, "Just think about this more rationally. I think you're really overthinking this."

Jace looked at her, a mix of confusion on his face mixed with his other emotions. "What do you mean?"

"You don't have to be glad for those people dying," Alyss said, "All of them dying was a horrible thing and I'm not saying you shouldn't feel sad for them. Just don't be _glad_ for that. Those people had nothing to do with you or Genesis being used like that. You don't have to be glad for them dying because it was only your birth parents and the scientists that caused you to be there."

Jace took in the words as they stopped walking. He shook his head. "But... I'm glad for the experiments and that's what got all those people killed..."

"Sure, you said you were glad for that before. But you can stop thinking that and just be glad for being sold," Alyss replied, her voice taking a soothing tone as she looked into his eyes, "If you just think that, then you don't have to be thankful for the experiments. All of it comes down to your birth parents selling you, not the experiments themselves. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I... guess I do now," Jace gave a long sigh, "I'm glad that I'm a Faunus, though. The experiments did that..."

"That's true too, but it still goes back to you being sold," Alyss said, "It's such a bad situation. If it was only you and Gen, you would say it with no regrets, right?"

Jace nodded. "Yeah. I guess it's like how you feel with what happened to you and mom. I really hate how my mind gets sometimes. I start thinking about something and I just..."

"Overthink until you feel really bad," Alyss finished for him, "That's what I'm here for. I'll try to help you through anything you're going through."

"And I'm really glad for that," Jace said with a returning smile, "Having you with me is just awesome in so many ways. I know I've said this a lot, but... you're just the best thing that's ever came into my life. I just want you to always know that."

"It never hurts to hear," Alyss laughed a small bit, "I think the same about you."

Jace laughed loudly for a few moments. "We have to be the sappiest couple, oh Light."

Alyss giggled along with him. "I think everyone else thinks that too. It's true, though. You're the best."

Jace grinned. "No, you are."

Alyss slapped his arm. "Oh don't you start that." She said and Jace laughed more. She shook her head and took another bite of her apple.

"I think the others are happy that we don't do that." Jace said and copied her actions.

Alyss nodded, smiling more at the returning cheerfulness. "They would throw us out of the room, most likely."

Jace snorted. "Or out the window."

"I wish Beacon's dorms had those balconies," Alyss said and they started walking back to the house, "It's really nice."

"It is," Jace agreed, "I guess it's so the academies can be more different. Atlas has bigger rooms than ours. They have bunk beds and actual kitchens in the rooms there."

Alyss _hummed_. "Vacuo has mostly stone rooms that keep them cool, and some kind of insulation in the stone that keeps it warm during the night. Oh, and vidcasters."

"Really?" Jace sighed, "Why can't _that_ be what they all have in common? We could watch our shows so much easier."

"What's stopping you from just buying a small one to hook your scroll up to?"

"Apples."

Alyss laughed. "Good point. Maybe you should ask for one for your birthday."

"Too late for that since it was a month and a half ago," Jace shrugged, "Not too late for you to ask though."

"Good thinking. Maybe I will."

"Be sure to ask Caitlyn for more cherries and Auron for more Jerky."

" _Really_ good thinking."

They finished their apples and threw the cores off to the side. After a few moments, they arrived back at the house and stepped onto the porch, then they went inside to join the others in the living room. They sat down on a free couch and Alyss laid her upper torso across Jace's lap. He started lightly rubbing her ears, causing a familiar sound to emanate from her chest.

"You two have a good talk?" Raine asked them.

"Mhmm," Alyss _hummed_ , swinging her legs back and forth over the armrest of the couch, "Jace was feeling bad about being glad for the other people that were used. I told him not to be glad for that and to just be glad he was sold. I'm sure he doesn't wanna get into too many details about that."

"Nope," Jace said, "I just want to sit here and relax and wait on our food. What's Auron fixing?"

"Stuffed bell peppers," Preacher answered him, "It's simple, but it'll fill ya up good."

"Auron told us about them before, but he never got the chance to fix them." Alyss said.

Charity was just looking at Alyss curiously, her head tilted a bit. "I thought Preacher was just overexaggerating when he said you purred. I didn't know cat Faunus did that."

"Well, now that you met them..." Raine started and grinned, "Be ready to hear it a lot."


	50. Chapter 50: A Stormy Day

**Chapter Fifty**

 **A Stormy Day**

"I still can't get over how hot it is here," Alex said to his girlfriend when they walked into an air conditioned grocery store near Haven Academy. It was Faunus-friendly, signified by a sign outside, and that was another reason they chose to go to that store. They didn't want to give business to a place that didn't like other people, "I wish my semblance kept me cool like yours."

Aulin laughed. "You know I'm not cool at all."

Alex shrugged, grinning. "True. You're pretty hot."

"Good that you still realize that," Aulin replied, "Y'know, it's kinda bullshit that Auron's making us go out to get the crap he needs for his jerky."

"He _does_ make it a lot for us all."

"Yeah, but it's because it's so good."

"I think it's fair. At least we don't have to buy the meat for it," Alex offered, "He said his dad hunts for it. We just need to find the sauces and stuff since the school didn't have any."

"What's he doing while we're playing fetch?" Aulin asked

"Going to get the meat from his mom, so he's playing fetch too."

Aulin scoffed. "I guess he gave us the lien for it, so I shouldn't complain. Won't stop me though."

Alex chuckled as the two walked back to the sauce and condiment aisle. They both started at different ends and sides, each pulling out a list that Auron gave them. They slowly worked down the aisle toward each other as they heard a light rumbling, hearing a few things shake a bit in the store as well.

The teens stopped and looked up to the ceiling. "Was that thunder?" Aulin asked Alex.

Alex nodded slowly. "I think so. Inu said he smelled rain coming earlier... Maybe that's why he stayed back."

Aulin sighed. "Shit... I remember Auron saying to get this done quick because he thinks it might be a bad storm. You find anything on the list over there?"

Alex nodded. "A couple bottles of... whatever this ' _W_ ' sauce is. I can't freaking pronounce that crap."

Aulin laughed. "It's worcestershire. Let's hurry and get this stuff gathered up and get back before-"

A huge crash of thunder shook the whole building, cutting off what Aulin was saying. "God damn!" She exclaimed and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Good lord," Alex shook his head as the thunder tapered off to silence, then they began to hear heavy rainfall outside, "I hope Bell's alright with how she said she hate's storms."

"Yeah, same here," Aulin took something that was on her list and put it in her basket, "I never really paid attention to how much stuff Auron uses for jerky."

Thunder rolled again, a bit louder this time and glass clinked together heavily throughout the aisle. "Me neither," Alex said, "I guess it's because of the huge batches he makes. There's at least two hundred pieces in each batch. He works himself half to death to fix it for everyone."

Aulin laughed. "Maybe we all need to try that moderation he keeps talking about. I'd hate for him to keel over and leave us without his famous jerky."

"Famous?"

"I think it should be famous."

Alex shrugged. "It's famous to all of us at least. I think Auron's limiting it to that."

* * *

That first crash of thunder, and the bright flash of lighting through the window, caused Bell to scream loudly. She dropped her scroll and it slid off her side and onto the floor. She put both her hands to over her mouth and started shivering, the movement shaking the bed she laid in. Inuvali had jolted in surprise from both the thunder and his friend's scream. He was sitting next to her on the bed, having expected the storm to come with its accompanying thunder and lightning. He just didn't think that Bell would react like that.

"Are you going to be okay, Bell?" Inuvali asked her.

Bell shook her head, shaking heavily as her eyes started watering. "I-I-I d-don't know..." She answered him, "I hope-"

Another crash of thunder caused her to scream again. Inuvali leaned over and hugged her, and she clung tightly to him. "I know you told us you hated storms, but I didn't know you were scared of thunder and lightning."

There was a light knock on the door. "Is everything okay? We heard a scream." They heard Alyss say.

"Come in. It's unlocked." Inuvali called out.

Alyss opened the door and both she and Jace came into the room. "What's wrong?" Jace asked, lightly shutting the door behind them.

"The storm," Inuvali answered him, "You know Bell hates them."

"I-I am v-very a-afraid of them as well..." Bell said quietly.

"Why are you scared of them?" Alyss asked, taking a seat on the bed next to theirs. She saw Bell's scroll laying on the floor and she picked it up, laying it on the nightstand.

Bell took a few deep breaths as Inuvali began stroking her hair. "Y-y-you all kn-know that I was abandoned... a-and taken in b-by the ch-church..."

They all nodded. "Yeah, we know, and we won't forget," Jace said, "Take your time."

Bell nodded a bit, then she jolted in Inuvali's arms as more thunder and lightning came. Jace glanced at the outside door and sighed. "You want the door covered up? So you at least won't have to see the lightning too much?"

"Th-that would b-be appreciated." Bell said shakingly.

Jace and Alyss stood from the bed and took the covers off of it, then they moved to put them over the windows of the door. The covers from that one bed didn't completely cover them, so they took the covers from the other two as well. After they had hopefully dealt with the lightning problem, they sat back down and waited patiently for Bell to tell them what was wrong.

"Wh-when I was abandoned… I-I was left outside of a store…" Bell told them all, "My m-mother said she was going to see about something, a-and I w-waited as I was told. I waited for th-thirty minutes, a-and that turned into an hour… and that turned into t-two... and that was when... A-a-and th-that was wh-when it started raining."

Bell buried her face more into Inuvali's shoulder. "Sh-she n-never came back. I w-waited in that same s-spot as a storm came, a-and it began th-thundering extremely loudly... I-It s-sounded so horrible. A-as if trees were snapping and c-crashing down... A-and the lightning s-struck and blinded me multiple times... I-it was the m-most t-errifying experience I have e-ever gone through a-and perhaps it will be the worst I will ever face. I-I-I s-stood in that downpour for… close to an hour more after it began. T-too af-fraid to move because my mother may not find me. Th-then, one of the priests of the church found me. I t-told him I was waiting for my mother… and I told-"

A heavier _crack_ of thunder, exactly like what Bell just described, shook the room and made her scream again and clench her eyes shut. Inuvali kept stroking her hair as his ears pressed back against the scream. "It's alright, Bell. We're here."

"Th-thank you all…" Bell said to everyone there, "I-I told h-him that I was w-waiting for my mother for close to f-four hours, s-standing in front of that sh-shop. H-he took me inside a-and he asked the owner if sh-she knew I was standing outside, and she said no. Sh-she let me stay in the back in her bed while Mideon, the priest, stayed in the shop to keep an eye on the storm. Wh-when it was over, h-he took me to a clothing store and bought me a change of clothes, and then he took me to the church… He spent the next two months searching for my mother... I-it wasn't until I was fifteen when I learned that my mother had not only abandoned me, but left Mistral itself. I was left just before a heavy storm… a-and I am afraid of thunder and bright flashes of lightning because of it."

"Oh, Bell," Alyss stood and stepped over, bending down to wrap her in a hug, "That sounds so horrible… I'm sorry..."

"I-it has taken m-me this long to tell you all this…" Bell shuddered under the embrace, "Th-there h-has not been any storms for you all to see how I am with them."

"You know it won't change how we see you," Jace said and stood up to go check the weather. He opened the makeshift curtains a bit and grimaced, "It doesn't look like this is letting up soon."

"How does it look?" Inuvali asked.

"Umm... It's raining sideways."

"Seriously, Jace?" Alyss questioned.

"It seriously looks like it's just about completely sideways. And I can _really_ hear the wind blowing and I barely see a few feet past the-"

A crash of thunder louder than all the others shook everything and an extremely bright bolt of lighting struck, causing Bell to scream, Jace to yell, and the power to go out.

"Gah! Fucking hell!" Jace yelled out, recoiling from the window, holding his hands over his eyes, "Damn it, that was painful." He said and rubbed them.

"Are you okay?" Alyss asked him.

"Well, I can't see at the moment," Jace replied, "Can you help me out?"

Alyss moved from the bedside and went to Jace, guiding him over to the bed. She sat him down on it and sat next to him. Alyss chuckled a bit. "That's why you don't stare out into storms, sweetie."

That got a bit of a giggle out of Bell. "I-I don't suppose you w-would feel like c-cooling down the room, w-would you, J-Jace?" She asked the currently-blinded cat Faunus, "It is a-already so hot without the a-air conditioning, and my crying is n-not helping at all."

"Yeah, I can do that if it'll make you feel more comfortable," Jace replied and began doing that, radiating ice dust outward with his aura in a comfortable temperature, "A heater and an air conditioner all in one. How's that for a great leader?" He laughed, trying to lighten the mood a bit more.

"Also a leader that doesn't avoid looking at lightning when it strikes." Inuvali remarked.

" _That_ wasn't my fault. It just happened."

Thunder sounded once more and caused the shelves in the room to rumble. Bell still jumped, but she only whimpered instead of screamed. "Th-thank you all for being with me right now. I-it helps so much."

"Of course, Bell," Alyss smiled, but Bell couldn't see it through the darkened room, or from where her face was still against Inuvali's shoulder, "We heard you scream and we were worried. I wish my semblance helped with stuff like this."

"It is okay, Aly. Perhaps you should use your semblance to help Jace's eyes, if they are still hurting." Bell suggested.

"That would be really nice right now, please." Jace said.

Alyss rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Lay on your back, sweetie." She told Jace.

Jace nodded. "I don't see why you want me to lay down, but okay." He said and moved to lay on his back, laying his head on the pillow.

"I don't know if you meant to make a pun from how you can't see, but stop." Alyss said.

"I didn't mean to, but I'll try to stop." Jace said as he heard Bell laugh.

"Th-thank you for cooling the room down, Jace," Bell thanked him, "It feels so much better. I only wish the light was on now."

"I'm sure they'll get the backup generators running soon." Alyss said and moved to straddle Jace's stomach.

"Oh, so this is why you wanted me to lay down?" Jace asked.

"Mhmm," Alyss _hummed_ her answer and moved her hands over his eyes, "I wanted to make you more comfortable." She said and began pulsing her semblance through her palms as she lightly pressed them against his head, her hands glowing purple and lighting up a bit of the room.

"I believe you always make him feel comfortable, Aly." Bell told her. She had loosened her hold on Inuvali, but he still stroked her hair.

"Well, I'm just making him more comfortable then." Alyss replied.

"Again, just like always." Inuvali said.

"Basically, yeah," Jace chuckled, "Just like I try to make her comfortable. Gotta do my best even more since she's my mate."

After a few moments, Alyss' hands stopped glowing, casting the room into darkness again. More thunder rolled, but it was lighter than before and didn't affect Bell too terribly. Jace had gone back to the door and very cautiously pulled the covers out of the way.

"Gods, I still can't see anything. Not even the big tree in the courtyard. I never knew it could rain this bad on Anima." He said, quickly letting the covers fall back into place.

Alyss' scroll buzzed and she brought it out of her pocket. She checked the message she recieved and closed it back up. "Auron said it's gonna be awhile before he gets back because he isn't driving in this."

"I can see why," Jace remarked, sitting back on the bed, "If I can't see for crap through that, then he won't do much better."

"I hope Aulin and Alex did not get caught in the rain," Bell said, significantly calmer than she was when the storm started, "I cannot imagine how hard that rain is falling. It is very loud."

"Speaking of that, where _is_ Raine?" Inuvali asked.

"She said she was gonna be at the shooting range with _Shagahod_ and _Amaranthe_ for a few hours," Jace answered, "I hope she took her cloak for if she decides to come back."

Bell giggled a bit. "Poor girl may be blown away by the wind if she steps outside."

Everyone laughed heartily at that until a loud _crack_ of thunder sounded, once again causing Bell to scream and hold Inuvali tightly. "There goes the hopes of the thunder being gone." Inuvali remarked dryly.

Bell took a long, shaky breath and swallowed hard. "I-I d-did not expect that th-thunder..."

"Neither did I," Alyss said, "That one scared me too."

Everyone shared light conversations for the next hour, the thunder a constant problem for the soft-spoken girl in Inuvali's arms. Every time it happened, everyone said something to sooth Bell again and again. Inuvali pulled his scroll out and began to cycle through pictures and videos he had saved of his little sister, either playing around with Inuvali, their mother and father, or her friends. Bell giggled at most of them and when she didn't laugh or giggle, it was because of thunder making her yell out in fear.

After an hour in darkness, the lights flickered back to life and the air conditioning kicked back on. "Should I keep going?" Jace asked.

"N-no, it is fine," Bell replied, "Y-you can stop now."

Jace nodded and let his aura die down. "I still feel pretty fine from that. I guess all my training with it paid off."

Bell's scroll buzzed on the nightstand. Inuvali reached over her shoulders and picked it up, then handed it to her. She took it in one hand and opened it, seeing that she received a text from Aulin.

 _'Belly, wish us luck. We're making a break for it. We've been stuck at the grocery store for the past hour. See you in a bit.'_

Bell sighed. "Oh Oum... Aulin and Alex are going to actually run through this deluge."

"Same with Raine," Jace said, closing up his scroll and shaking his head, "I told her to just come here. She said she _does_ have her cloak, but... I really don't know if it's enough to protect from this. Either way, I need to get ready to dry some people off."

"Or..." Alyss hugged him and pulled him down into the bed, "We can just have a scritching session. The purring might help Bell relax. They can dry themselves off and wash their clothes."

"I would like that..." Bell said to them, "The purring always so soothing when I am not trying to focus on anything."

"Then it's settled, I guess," Jace said, kissing Alyss on the cheek, "How about I play some music from my scroll? Maybe loud enough to where the th-" He was cut off by a _crash_ of thunder and Bell's accompanying whimper.

"Rude-ass thunder. _Maybe_ ,' Jace continued, "loud enough to where the thunder might not have too much of an effect?"

Inuvali shot him a skeptical look over Bell's head. "Out of the music we know you listen to, which is at least one love song and _countless_ types of rock and metal, what could you possibly have that would be soothing."

Jace laughed at the question. "Oh Inu, you haven't even heard a fraction of what I have on my scroll. What I have in mind is from my favorite game as a kid. Y'know, the one I keep telling you guys about. It's got some great songs that are perfect for relaxing."

"Y-you can try it if you wish," Bell said, "I-I a-am actually r-rather curious."

* * *

"Are you kids sure you wanna go out in _that_?" A middle-aged man asked Aulin and Alex as the two prepared themselves.'

"I don't know how long these storms last over here," Aulin replied, stretching her legs by bringing a foot up behind herself and pulling on it with her hands, "We've already been stuck here for about an hour. I don't plan on sleeping on a floor tonight of it lasts that long."

The man shook his head, looking to Alex with a small grin. "And you're letting your girl drag you through it too?"

Alex laughed as he rolled his shoulders. "I've never seen rain like this from where I grew up in Atlas. I'm kind of excited to go out in it."

The man just looked at him as a few other store-goers laughed. "Both of you are crazy."

"Oh yeah, if it bothered anyone, I'm sorry that I yelled like that earlier," Aulin apologized to everyone, "The thunder really surprised me."

"You're from another kingdom, so it's fine," A bird Faunus with plumes of dark-red feathers on the backs of her upper arms told her, holding an infant with the same feather arrangement that she just recently got to calm down, "Just try to control yourself a bit better."

Aulin nodded. "I try to do that when I'm sure there's kids and babies around. She's a cutie by the way." She grinned.

The woman smiled. "Well, my mate says she takes after her mother."

A _crash_ of thunder caused everyone to stop and stare upwards. "I guess that should be our queue to go. I hope we aren't getting in over our heads with this." Alex said.

"Oh please, babe. An Armaddon broke your arm. A little drizzle isn't gonna hurt ya." Aulin said with a smirk and kissed him.

Alex grinned. "True enough," He wrapped the handles of the bags he was carrying around his hands a few times, "Let's go!" He urged his girlfriend and they let the automated doors open, then they took off into the downpour.

"Good luck!" The bird Faunus called, but they couldn't hear it for the rain.

"Fuck!" Aulin yelled out and did her best to hold her balance in the wind, holding a forearm in front of her face to shield her eyes, "I didn't expect it to be cold!"

Alex barely heard her as he faced down toward the sidewalk. "I didn't expect it to fall this hard! It actually stings a bit!"

"This is fucking awesome!" Aulin exclaimed, laughing almost hysterically as thunder sounded above them and lighting flashed across the sky, "Can't get this in Vale!"

"Sure as hell not in Atlas!" Alex added, "Just a lot of snow and hail!"

"What's your dad have to do with anything!?"

"You know what I mean, dammit!" Alex laughed.

The two pushed on toward Haven. It was basically a straight shot, so they had no chance of getting lost from lack of sight. They only thing they really had to worry about was running into street signs and light poles which they nearly did multiple times. After a fifteen minute run, they arrived back at Haven's courtyard and under the large oak tree in the center, and they pushed on toward the foreign students' dorms from there. They ripped open the doors and stepped inside, both breathing heavily as they sunk to the floor for a few moments to rest.

"Yeah..." Aulin panted, "Fuck those stairs right now."

"Right..." Alex swallowed the dryness away in his throat and let out a huff of air, "Fuck those stairs."

"Everything intact?" Aulin asked.

Alex checked the bags he was carrying, looking in them and seeing no broken glass or spilled sauces. "We're good... surprisingly."

Aulin sighed in relief. "Good. I was _not_ making another trip out today... even if that was fun as hell. Gotta dry my scarf off really soon."

Alex took a glance over at her body, seeing it shining with moisture. He grinned as he took in the whole sight, especially now that her top clung to her chest more than normal. "We should do this more often. It's... really great."

Aulin looked at him and smirked, seeing where he was staring. "Maybe so. Maybe next time I can wear a white shirt."

"I'll look forward to that day."

Aulin laughed and slowly rose up to her feet. "C'mon, mister romantic. Gotta get to our room and get changed."

Alex stood up soon after, clutching the bags tightly. "Do I get to watch?"

"Depends on if I get to watch you."

"So that's a yes."

They laughed a bit and shared a short kiss, then they walked up the stairs, dripping water everywhere. When they reached their floor, they slowly walked down the hall as they already felt their muscles ache, the payment for their sprint through the rain.

They arrived at their room and entered. "We survived!" Aulin exclaimed, her fists shooting into the air in victory.

"It's freaking cold," Alex shivered, noticing what was going on in the room and finally paying attention to the music that was playing at a moderately high level, the _purring_ of two cat Faunus, the fox Faunus working on cleaning her rifle, and the covered-up outside door, "What's going on?"

Inuvali glanced at them both. "The storm came and it started thundering and lightning. We found out that Bell is afraid of it when she screamed as it came."

"You're afraid of that stuff, Bell?" Aulin asked the girl curled up at Inuvali's side.

Bell nodded slowly. "I am. I would tell you both exactly why, but..."

Aulin shook her head. "Don't worry about it. If I would've known that, then I would've stayed back with you."

"It is fine, Aul. I am okay now," Bell gave a smile, "Jace and Aly helped with their purring and the music is very soothing."

"It's one of my favorite songs from the game it's from," Jace said, opening his eyes to look at the two arrivals, "All the guitar work is great. It's an awesome mix of acoustic and bass. And the drumwork matches the tone of it awesomely. And then the violin's come in and... _gods_ it's just so awesome."

"I know I've never heard it before now, and we listen to his music together a lot," Alyss said, "There's just so much that it's always a surprise when a new song comes on."

"It's good music to relax or do maintenance to," Raine remarked, finishing up on drying off and oiling _Shagahod_ , "Until some really heavy metal stuff pops up and makes you drop a screw."

"I made a playlist!" Jace laughed, "That won't happen again!"

"If it does, you're finding the screw." Raine told him.

"Well, we're gonna go change out of these clothes," Alex said to everyone, "Then I'm gonna go wash them. Anyone have any dirty clothes they want taken care of?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Alright then." Alex said and he and his girlfriend found a change of clothes after he put the grocery bag on his desk, then they disappeared to the bathroom and everyone just laughed loudly.

"They actually ran through that." Alyss said in surprise.

"When Aulin says something she is going to do something, she usually does it." Bell said wryly.

"Sometimes, that is either a good or bad thing," Inuvali added, "Sometimes hilarious."

"Hmm," Bell _hummed_ , "She _does_ make it very lively in our family, that is for certain."

The thunder came again, but the sound was dampened a good amount by the music from Jace's scroll and the _purrs_ that came from both himself and Alyss. Bell didn't scream, which was a good sign, but she did whimper and start shivering again.

Inuvali tightened his arm around her a bit. "That was as loud as the others earlier. You're doing better."

"Th-the music a-and purring is helping helping a great deal." Bell replied.

"That's what we're here for!" Alyss said cheerfully, pushing her head more into Jace's hands and fingers.

"This is great for both parties," Jace laughed, "I get a scritching session with my Pretty Kitty, I get to play more of my favorite game's music, and it's all better because it's helping you."

Bell looked over at the two and smiled. "Th-thank you both again."

"No problem." They replied.

Alex and Aulin came from the bathroom a few moments later and Alex took his leave with their clothes in a bag. "Everything still alright?" Aulin asked, hopping onto the foot of the bed and laying on her side.

"Better now that almost everyone is here and okay," Bell replied, "I-I hope Auron can make it back safely."

Just then, Alyss' scroll buzzed on the nightstand. She took her hand from Jace's ears and grabbed it. "Auron said he's on his way back now that the storm died down some. He said that his dad thinks the worst of the thunder and lighting should be gone."

"I still hear the rain falling pretty hard though," Jace said, "It doesn't sound like it died down any at all."

"It did," Raine said and stood from the desk she occupied. She went over and folded back the covers over the door, "I can see further out and I can barely make out the tree. It's Animan weather for you. You'll probably learn more about it later in geography or something. I had to learn about it a lot sooner."

"Congrats, _nerd_ ," Aulin snickered, "I guess you'll be helping everyone out then, won't you?"

Raine rolled her eyes at the light-hearted jab. "If anyone really needs it, I'll help. Or I'm sure Auron and Bell can too."

"I would be glad to assist anyone if they need it," Bell agreed, " _If_ they'll pay attention."

"We're working on it!" Aulin whined, "We have to pick it up more since we don't want to risk you guys being held back with us if we got held back. We're picking it up. Don't worry your pretty little head, Belly."

"Good. It is about time you two straightened yourselves out with schoolwork." Bell replied.

Alyss' scroll buzzed again. She started giggling as she read the text she got. "Auron said he had to stop to pull a tree off the road next to the river,"

A few moments later, her eyes widened. "Good Oum! He just sent a picture of the river and it's almost flooded out!"

"I hope this storm doesn't blow south to Menagerie," Inuvali said, "If it is this bad here, I can't imagine the damage it would do in Hibana. The buildings there aren't made like the ones here. They would probably get highly damaged by the wind, especially since Jace said it was raining sideways."

"It's definitely died down from that. Falling almost straight down now," Raine said, still looking out the window, "I'm not hearing anymore thunder or seeing any lighting, so we should be good to take these down. That okay with you, Bell?"

Bell nodded, having finally completely let go of Inuvali. "That is fine. It will be nice to have a bit of light coming in from outside, even if it is not much."

Being the ones that put the covers up, Jace and Alyss went to take them down and replaced them back onto the beds they came from. They laid back down onto the bed and Raine sat at the foot of it, grinning as her teammates returned to what they were doing before.

"Our missions this year are two weeks before first-years..." Inuvali said suddenly.

"Yeah, and?" Aulin asked, raising to a sitting position in the middle of the bed, almost in between Bell and the wolf Faunus.

"And we're allowed to actually go to another continent on D-ranked missions," Inuvali continued, "Vanille's birthday is that week. I'm hoping that we can take a mission that will take us down there. I would really like for you all to meet my family. Everyone in our two teams."

Aulin and Bell shared smiles. "Of course we can go!" Aulin exclaimed, "If there's a couple missions down that way, then we can all go. With that railroad thing they're doing, they have supply gathering missions almost all over. Even Blake's dad is pitching in from what she heard. She said he hopes it'll get a railway from at least Anima to over to Hibana or Kuo Kuana itself."

"It would be so wonderful to meet them," Bell said in excitement, "I have always heard that Menagerie is so beautiful. I hope to see that myself, meet your family, and help with whatever mission we take. I am sure Alex will want to go too. What do you three say?" She asked the others and the two of her team looked over to them.

"That sounds awesome, really," Jace said, grinning, "I would love to go. I could learn a bit more about Faunus culture and hope that I don't seem weird when I ask about things. My semblance would help out a lot along with Alex's."

"And mine can help if people pull their muscles really badly," Alyss added, nearly as excited as Bell, "Or if they get injured in any other way. Plus I'll get to meet new people and help out a lot."

"Well, I've said how I've always wanted to visit Menagerie," Raine said with a small grin, "I guess I'll get my chance. And now I'll finally get to meet Vanille after seeing so many cute pictures that Aulin showed me. Oh! Maybe Vivi will be our chaperone again!" She finished, breaking out a larger grin at the thought.

Aulin laughed. "You just wanna get her alone in her house, don't you?"

"I'm not denying that." Raine laughed as well.

"I'm glad you all want to go," Inuvali smiled at everyone, "What about Auron, though?"

"He'll want to go, but he'll be really nervous about it," Alyss answered, "He's always worried that he'll make a bad impression with Faunus and make someone mad. And he doesn't like the possibility that someone might have a problem with him just because he's human, but he'll wanna go too."

Inuvali nodded. "I hope no one thinks bad of any of you for being human. I've never had any interactions with the few humans that live in Kuo Kuana, but the Faunus there have to be friendly to be okay with them living there. The only times I've been there was to pick up a few things for my mother that we could't get in Hibana. How Faunus are in Hibana, though... I'm not so sure. No humans live there at all, so how they react to you being there will be completely new."

"Either way it goes, I'll be getting it off my bucket list," Aulin said, "If anyone starts, I'll talk to them as calm as I can or ignore them."

"I have faith that it will turn out well for us all," Bell said, "People may think what they wish, but we would be there for a mission to hopefully help them all connect to more of the world. I would hope they see the good in that."

"All we can do is wait and see, I guess," Jace said, removing his hands from Alyss' ears and hugging her tightly to him, "I can't wait until then. At least there I won't have to worry about racists being racist to Alyss. Bonus points."

"Yeah, but we have to worry about people being racist to us," Aulin remarked, shrugging, "I don't doubt that it'll be a hell of a time, though."


	51. Chapter 51: Change of Plans

**Chapter Fifty One**

 **Change of Plans**

"So, how's my little brothers doing?" Genesis asked Jace and Alex with a grin.

It was very different how the academies had sent their students over to Haven that year. The headmasters of Beacon, Shade, and Atlas decided to send their students at separate times to prevent from overcrowding like the year before. Beacon's students were the first to go two week's prior and arrived just a few days before that storm, and then Shade's arrived, and finally Atlas' students had just come in. In the end, it seemed that way had been best for all parties.

Genesis had joined his two brothers in JKDW's dorm room, wanting to spend some time catching up with them before he and the rest of Atlas' students were called for their orientation. Nika was there with him, her bright-red her in its same disheveled and messy look. Alyss was catching up more with her team about how great her life was at the moment and Raine was with her, catching up with her cousin. Barrett had gone to hang out with Aulin, Bell, and Inuvali. Michael and Liza were back in their assigned dorm, unpacking their things. Auron was finishing up with preparing jerky for all their friends, working on dehydrating it. It was a task he always enjoys, even if he acted annoyed.

"We're doing really good," Jace said, "My team is ranked three in combat class. RWBY and JNPR are ahead of us."

"We're rank four," Alex said for his team, "Can't get past Jace and the others for the life of us. And me and Aul's working on getting our grades up and focus on every part of classes. We're joining the crew of a ship to help with taking out aquatic Grimm."

"Sounds exciting," Genesis remarked, "I'm gonna try to become a mechanic. After fixing up _Titan_ and _Kimura_ how I did, I think that might be my second calling."

"How are you gonna balance it out?" Nika asked him curiously, "It's gonna have its challenges being both a mechanic _and_ a Huntsman."

Genesis nodded. "I know it will. I have to start a shop first and get it up and running. If business is slow, then I'll go look at a board for missions. But if I get a good amount of people coming in needing a vehicle fixed, then I'll stay and do that. Hopefully I'll have a lovely assistant to help me out." He finished, casting a smile to his girlfriend.

She smirked back at him. "How else are you gonna keep the business side of things going and stay careful out on missions?"

Genesis laughed. "I'll definitely need you around. How's things on the personal side?" He asked the others, "Like how's your relationships and all of your friendships?"

"Awesome," Jace said and smiled more, "Being Alyss' mate is the best thing in the world. She's always happy, and I just feel that through my Mark and it makes me happy too. Like right now, she's really happy to be able to hang out with Sapphire, Zack, and Heath. That makes me just as happy. And she probably feels how happy I am hanging out with you again."

"That sounds awesome. I'm still really proud that you mated with someone you love," Genesis said, returning the smile at seeing his brother so happy, "What about you, Alex?"

"It's really fun with Aul being my girlfriend," Alex replied happily, "Her attitude about everything makes it hard not to be cheerful around her. If I feel like shit, she just brings my mood back up just by being normal. And Inu wants us to go to Menagerie whenever we go on missions. Both our team and Jace's. He wants us to meet his family and be there for his little sister's birthday."

"Oh yeah, they're helping with gathering materials for the railways," Genesis said, "That's our plan too. Mike and Liza wanna go to learn more about Faunus culture so they can avoid being assholes even more."

Jace laughed. "You telling them what we've been through was the best thing to happen to them. They've really been trying, haven't they?"

Genesis and Nika nodded. "From last year, their grades really jumped up. Sometimes, we have to tell them to slow down so they don't burn themselves out," Nika replied, "Our team actually went to rank five instead of staying at ten. They're getting better."

"So if our teams fight first in the tournament, it won't basically be two on one?" Jace asked with a grin, "Good. Well, even if it was four on two, I'm sure we'd keep it two on two out of fairness."

"I want to go against that fat one that I fought in sparring last year," Nika said, her mouth dropping to a frown, "I'm not letting what he said about my sword go."

Genesis looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You really hold a grudge don't you?"

"I'm still mad at Michael for what he said too. I don't forgive people easily for making fun of what Chroma made for me. It's easier to be around him since he's changed, but... whatever his name is and his team are bullies. I can't stand them."

"Neither can I, but what can we do?" Jace shook his head, "You can't punch them in the face or apparently _you're_ the bad guy, especially as a Faunus. Just have to ignore them and be done with it."

"Except you let Alyss do the ignoring for you." Alex remarked.

"True."

* * *

"So do any of you have any plans on moving your Marks up a stage anytime soon?" Heath asked all of her closest friends in her team's room, looking at them all with a bright smile, her jade eyes sparkling with happiness that all of them were so happy.

"We're planning on that when we graduate," Sapphire answered for herself and Zack, "We want to wait so we don't have to worry about going between thinking about that and schoolwork at the same time."

"Even though it would be awesome to do it sooner," Zack said, "But we'd both just rather focus on school for now. We love each other plenty right now. What about you, Aly? When are you gonna try to move your Mark up?"

"Well..." Alyss gave a wide, dopey smile, "I wanna do it on the night of the dance. I wanna do it soon, but not too soon, and I think that would be a good time to do it."

"You'll be having the room from me at least," Raine told her with a grin, "I know Vivi's gonna be there and I'm gonna be going with her after the dance. I don't know about Auron though."

Heath took in the answers from her friends and almost squealed in delight. "Oh gods! I really can't get over how happy I am for all of you!"

"How can you be that happy for me?" Raine asked her, "I'm not mated with Vivi."

" _Yet_ ," Heath winked, "Aly's told us all about how you are around Vivi. Only a matter of time."

Raine nodded, a blush on her face as she smiled. "Yeah..."

"When do you plan on asking?" Sapphire asked, "C'mon, you can trust your cousin." She grinned.

Raine laughed. "The cousin that I just found out was my cousin recently," She nodded and smiled, "I'd... like to go to her home in Kuo Kuana sometime. Maybe when we go for the missions and if she's one of our teams' chaperone."

"That's what we were gonna do," Sapphire said, "It would be nice to go to Menagerie and help get supplies built up. Maybe we'll get one to Shira. Mom recently moved there. It's further inland," She explained to Raine, "It would be fun."

"That reminds me," Raine said, "I need to call and ask Remington what he wants to do about getting some Rangers to Menagerie. The last time I called, he said he was on an important mission and couldn't talk. I should call again soon."

"That sounds like an awesome idea!" Sapphire exclaimed, "If people see that Rangers are helping out there, then they might start trusting Faunus more and then the councils might actually have a railway built to it!"

"Plus Raine is hoping that they'll be assigned there. Her and Vivi," Alyss grinned, "Just so Raine can be with her in her home."

Raine shrugged, a small blush growing back on her face. "That's a big reason, yeah. It would be good for everyone too. Maybe they can help with colonizing a bit more of the whole continent, at least until they hit the deserts."

"Stuff is hopefully gonna get better all over Menagerie with that," Zack said, "I'm definitely moving to Shira to live with Saph and we're gonna relax for awhile, move into our own home, and then move our Mark up a stage."

"That sounds like a great plan for you both," Alyss said, "I don't really know mine and Jace's plans immediately after we graduate. I think Jace probably wants to get to work as soon as he gets his license. I kinda do to."

"Just take it slow," Heath suggested, "We all know how much you two wanna go help people, but you can afford to relax for a little bit. But that isn't until after we graduate, so let's not think on it until it gets here."

"Right. We shouldn't get carried away focusing on the future," Raine said, "Right now is what matters."

"Yeah. Now and the people we love is what matters." Sapphire said, leaning against Zack.

Raine sighed, shaking her head. "Man, I wish I could lean against Vivi right now."

Alyss glanced at her. "It might not be the same, but you wanna scritch my ears?"

Raine laughed at the offer. "No, it won't be the same, but I'll do it anyway."

* * *

Auron wiped sweat from his brow as he waited in the communal kitchen. Having two dehydrators, both his that he had sent over in his truck and the school's, made the room very hot. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, regretting that this had been the day he had chosen not to wear his ice dust-laced duster.

He had been there since he had woken up that morning. He hadn't said a word to any of the arrivals from Atlas, too busy with finishing up what was nearly everyone's favorite snack. He would say hi to his friends soon enough. He checked the time on his scroll and grunted, standing out of his chair. He walked over to the his dehydrator and took the very top part off, the one that sent heat throughout the entire thing. His dehydrator had seven racks to it while the school's had ten, each one filled with pieces of jerky but the pieces were spaced out so they would completely finish.

Auron set the top to the side and checked each piece of jerky by hand. He knew they were ready, feeling that they were dried out enough. He took each piece out and put it in his teeth, then he put the rest in individual bags, zipping them when they were full. Halfway through his dehydrator, he heard a knock on the wall behind him.

"Would you like some assistance?"

Auron turned his head, seeing Bell in the doorway. "If you want. Still got another two batches to put on after this."

Bell nodded and stepped over next to him as he moved to the other. "Just put 'em in a bag 'till it gets full." Auron told her.

She nodded and began. "I have not seen you all day. I should have known you would be here."

Auron chuckled. "Yeah, I had to get this done. Still got a few more hours to go too. You feel like stickin' around for that?"

"Hmm, I will stay and help you for a bit. I wished to talk to you."

"What did you wanna talk about?"

"Well..." Bell _hummed_ as she thought, "What is it like to be in love?"

Auron glanced at her. "It's a pretty great feelin'. For me, I'm happy doin' anything that'll make Shyla have an easier time more than I do for anyone else. I do that 'cause I love her more than the world. She can make me smile more than anyone, an' she can ask me to do anything an' I'll do it to the best o' my abilities. Kinda like anyone in love would do for their girlfriend or boyfriend."

"You are smiling just by saying all of this." Bell observed.

Auron shrugged, keeping his apparent smile. "I guess I am. What makes you ask a question like that?"

Bell sighed. "I am only curious about it because... I have never known what being in love is like," She said sadly, "You all know I am asexual. Relationships such as that do not interest me, and I am not sexually attracted to anyone. Seeing every one of you happy with your partners makes me feel... _sad_. But, I am happy for everyone as well. That outweighs my own sadness, but it makes me feel lonely..."

"I... really don't know what to tell ya, Bell," Auron said, halfway through emptying the dehydrator, "I'm sorry you feel like that. It must be pretty hard for you around all of us, then."

"Oh, no! It is not anyone's fault I feel this way!" Bell assured him quickly, "I only... I-I wish I could feel love for someone like that... that way I could return Inu's feelings..."

"He loves you?" Auron asked lightly.

Bell nodded solemnly. "I have noticed for a long while that he has had feelings for me. It was at the end of last year when I realized it. I know he cares for me more than anyone else, and it is not because he thinks of me as his sister. I do not want to tell him I am not interested. I would hate to break his heart, but he knows how I am. I do not know what to do..."

"If I was you, I'd tell 'im," Auron said, "It ain't gonna do 'im any better if ya wait. In fact, it might actually hurt 'im more if you put it off. Just try to talk to 'im soon an' tell 'im lightly. It probably won't change 'im from carin' about ya. He may just want to be alone for awhile, but I got no clue."

"Right..." Bell said sadly, finishing up on emptying the dehydrator she was at, "I need to tell him for his sake. If I can stand to face him about it, then I will tell him soon."

"I'm sure it'll be alright, Bell. You told anyone else about it?"

Bell shook her head as she stepped back, letting Auron put the next batch of jerky in the dehydrators. "I only just now wanted to tell someone about it."

"It's good that you got it off your chest. I hope I helped out some."

"You did," Bell said truthfully, "Now I know what I should do. Aly is with Sapphire, Jace is with his brothers, and Aul is with Barrett and Inu. I needed to talk to someone and I did not want to intrude on anyone's time together."

"You wouldn't be intrudin' on anything. They'd all be glad to help ya with this if you asked 'em."

"That is true, I suppose," Bell sighed and sat down in a chair, "I believe I should go back before they begin to worry."

Auron nodded. "Alright. Thanks for the bit o' help with this. I'll put a bit extra in your bag like I'm doin' with Alex an' Aul's."

"Oh, you do not need to do that. I was glad to help."

"Doin' it anyway." Auron laughed.

"Of course you are." Bell shook her head and grinned a bit, then she left the kitchen.

* * *

 _One month late_ r

"Alright! Time to hopefully get a mission to Menagerie!" Jace exclaimed as he led his team out of their dorm.

"Yeah!" Alyss cheered, "I really wanna meet Inu's sister and help get the railways started."

"I'm just hoping that the councils actually see that Menagerie would be worth it to make a railway to." Raine remarked.

"Either they'll realize it, or they'll keep being stupid about it." Jace replied.

"Yeah, I kinda doubt they'll do it any time soon." Auron said.

"Wishful thinking, though." Alyss said.

Raine shrugged. "Maybe when some Rangers get posted over there."

"That would be real good even if they didn't get a railway from it." Auron said.

Raine nodded. "Right. I'm sure being the chieftain of Menagerie is pretty tough for just one person. A couple Rangers to help Ghira with those things, plus three to four more around the villages is gonna help a lot more. One from each kingdom already should do it."

Within five minutes, they all arrived at the auditorium. They met up with their friends and family. They chatted for a bit until Headmaster Lionheart gave them all the briefing of what missions they could take and couldn't take, and he told them all that there was an influx of missions in the past few months that needed to be addressed, mostly for the supply gathering missions.

Soon, Lionheart was finished, wishing them all luck when their missions began the next day. Teams JKDW, APCT, SLVR, GLSS, and SHRA exchanged looks.

"So, we're all in agreement of what we're doing?" Jace asked them all.

Everyone nodded. "This will be an enlightening trip," Tyr said, "I hope we can be of good assistance to the people of Menagerie."

"Some of us are gonna get to spend more time with our families too." Sapphire added.

"And some of us get to meet family." Alex said.

"While some want to learn more about how not to be assholes around Faunus." Genesis said with a grin, bumping his shoulder against Michael.

"Gen!" Sapphire yelled, "Don't cuss!"

"Sorry." Genesis apologized.

Michael sighed. "I'm still trying to make up for the crap I pulled."

"It wasn't _crap_ , it was my tail," Jace laughed, "I keep telling you not to worry about that. I met Alyss because of that and I'm happy."

"Still, we want to learn more about Faunus so we don't accidentally insult them or be offensive." Liza said, glancing to see Zack and Inuvali staring at them cautiously.

"At least you're working on it. Right, Zack?" Sapphire asked her mate.

He nodded. "As long as they don't go back to what they were and mess with you."

"We promise we'll try not to." Liza assured them.

"I suppose we should split up and go to different boards," Inuvali stated, taking his eyes off them, "It might be quicker that way."

"Good idea," Aulin said, "Let's meet up outside when we all got our missions picked. Sound good?"

Everyone agreed to that and went to different areas in the auditorium. JKDW found a short line at a holoboard near the stage and waited behind a team from Haven. They waited patiently, knowing that selecting a mission was difficult unless a team saw something on the first page or knew what they wanted to do.

"A Beringel? Screw that!" One of the students ahead of them exclaimed, making Jace's ears stand straighter in attention.

"Well, the description says it apparently has one arm. We could take it out." The girl's teammate said to her.

"Oh no, Sara. I'm not going anywhere near a Beringal after what happened to that village. One arm _or_ two."

 _"One-armed Beringel..."_ Jace echoed in his mind, clenching his fists.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Auron asked lowly.

Alyss and Raine nodded. "She did," Raine affirmed, crossing her arms, "It's... doubtful that it's a coincidence."

"Axel..." Jace muttered, turning his eyes downward as he remembered what his father had told him and his friends during their visit.

Alyss put her hand over his forearm. "Calm down, sweetie. We don't know if it's the same Beringel or not."

The students in front of them apparently chose a mission and Jace moved up, followed by his team. He went to find what was in Menagerie, but he hesitated as his fingers hovered over the screen.

"Guys..." Jace started, putting his hand back to his side.

"You thinkin' about changin' plans?" Auron asked him.

Jace sighed. "I... don't know..." He replied, "Let's just see what it is. It can't be that same one."

He quickly found the mission and pressed the screen, causing the page to come up. The whole team read what the description gave them.

 _"Last year, the village of Miras was attacked by a roaming horde of Grimm. A large group of fifty with a Beringel that was at the back. Most of our people escaped unharmed, but the Huntsman that protected us fell in battle after cutting its left arm off. One of our guards blinded its eye with a stray gunshot and caused it to retreat, but it was too late for the Huntsman to be saved. We have since relocated and returned to rebuild, but one of our hunters saw the very same Beringel in the woods one mile away from the village..."_

 _"We feel that this could provide valuable experience for a team of Huntsmen-in-training, considering the Beringel should by all rights be weakened prey. If it had both arms, then we would give this to only professional Huntsmen. We hope this will provide a learning experience for any team that takes this mission."_

"Oh my fucking Oum..." Jace gulped, clenching his teeth and his fists, "I-it's the same one..."

"What do you wanna do, Jace?" Auron asked, "I know we were gonna take one in Menagerie, but..."

"You want revenge." Raine stated plainly.

Jace nodded slowly. "Yeah... I want that fucking thing dead. I want Axel to rest easier. I just..."

"Jace..." Alyss pulled his face toward her and she gave him a look both hard and soft, "Your uncle died because of revenge. Haile said the Grimm killed his wife, and the Grimm killed him and you want revenge too. D-Don't do anything rash..."

Jace sighed and hugged her. "I know that, Alyss. And... I don't want to fight it like I have nothing left to lose. I want to fight it like I have _everything_ to lose. Axel lost his wife and he felt like he lost everything. I haven't lost anyone, and I want to keep it that way. I want to let Axel rest easier..."

"If no one else wants to step the fuck up to a Beringel, then I think we need to be the ones that do it an' put it down." Auron declared with a bit of heat in his words.

"That Beringel got extremely lucky if it just lost its arm and its eye," Raine remarked, "Maybe it's time it ran out of luck."

"We'd be disappointing Inu, though..." Alyss said quietly, "He really wants us all to meet his sister on her birthday. He's gonna be sad that we changed plans."

"So you're in?" Jace asked and Alyss slowly nodded, "We'll make it up to him when the year ends. We'll all get his sister some gifts and we'll go to Menagerie for a few weeks. But for now... is everyone agreeing on going on this mission?"

Everyone nodded and Jace put their team name in the box on the screen, which lit up green and he confirmed it. Jace took a deep breath as he looked up toward the heavens, then he felt Alyss' fingers wrap around his and he looked back down.

"C'mon. We're holding up the line." She told him.

"Right," Jace said and looked back at the team that was behind them, "Sorry about that."

Jace led his team through the crowd of students and outside where they found SLVR standing near a small fountain, chatting with each other. Jace and the others met up with them and Bell noticed the look on Jace's face.

"What is wrong, Jace?" She asked him.

Jace sighed and looked to Inuvali apologetically. "Inu... I'm sorry, but we're not going to Menagerie for a mission."

Inuvali looked shocked at the answer. "Why not? I was looking forward to you all meeting Vanille... I already sent an email to my parents and they said she was so excited to be meeting so many new people."

"I know, Inu, and I'm really sorry, but..." Jace looked down, "Something came up that I wanted to take care of."

Inuvali sighed. "Vanille is going to be so disappointed."

"We'll try to make it up to her _and_ you during break after the tournament, I promise," Alyss assured him, "We'll get her gifts and get her a cake and it'll be a late birthday."

Jace chuckled. "I didn't think of that. I suggested the end of the year, but we're doing what Alyss said."

"I'll make some jerky for her," Auron said, "If she likes it, then she'll have a huge bag of it to snack around on."

"I'll get her something she likes," Raine said, "I feel so bad about not going at least to meet her and your family."

"Yeah..." Jace rubbed the back of his neck, "I felt bad as soon as I put our name in for this mission."

"What mission is it, anyway?" Alex asked.

"It's gotta be something big if you put it over meeting Inu's family," Aulin noted, tilting her head as she looked at Jace, "The question is _how_ big?"

Jace nodded. "Well-"

"Jace! I gotta talk to you!" Genesis called from the doors, coming out of the building without his team.

Jace tensed up a bit and Alyss squeezed his hand, sending a feeling of calmness to him. Jace took a deep breath and calmed himself as Genesis arrived at them. "What did you need to talk about?"

Genesis sighed. "Did you... see that mission?"

Jace nodded. "I did. It's what we chose."

Genesis nodded back slowly. "I was about to put our team in, but before I could confirm it said it was just taken."

"What mission are you both talking about?" Bell asked them.

"There was a mission given by the mayor of a village called Miras. In the snowy parts of Anima," Jace answered her, "One of the hunters there caught sight of a... one-armed Beringel."

"A one-armed..." Aulin's eyes widened, "Is it the same one?"

"It is," Genesis said, "It even said that it killed a Huntsman after he took its arm off. That was our uncle, Axel Reznor."

"Your uncle?" Bell echoed, "I am sorry to hear that he passed..."

"Th-thanks..." Jace said, his voice catching in his throat a bit, "I want to go after it and hopefully give Axel a bit more peace after his last few years alive. I know he's back with his wife right now and he's at peace with that, but I'm not letting a damn Grimm or _anything_ get away with hurting or killing someone I love."

"I'll tell Vanille that you had to do something for your uncle, then," Inuvali told him, "I didn't know about him. I'm holding you all to what you said."

The four nodded. "Tell her that we'll meet her as soon as we can after the tournament ends," Raine told him, "We're gonna throw her a party to make up for it."

Inuvali nodded. "I'll tell her."

"Are you gonna tell dad?" Alex asked Jace, "I'm sure he'd wanna know that you're going to fight the same Grimm that killed his brother."

"Yeah, I'm gonna tell him later," Jace replied, "I'm not hiding it from him."

"That wouldn't be too smart," Genesis remarked, "We'll still be going at least. Hopefully nothing bad happens to you on this mission, Jace."

Jace gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah, If something bad happens to me, I'm done with missions."


	52. Chapter 52: Den of Wolves

**Chapter Fifty Two**

 **Den of Wolves**

"Damn it!" Raine whined when she learned the news from her girlfriend.

Vivi laughed and hugged her. "It'll be alright, Little Fox. This one may not be your chaperone this year, but she'll still be going to the dance with you."

"I guess I should be happy with that," Raine huffed and looked to the side to see the team that Vivi was chaperoning, "You guys take care of her. Don't let anything sneak up on her."

Aulin nodded and grinned. "Sure. I doubt anything's gonna sneak up on her though."

"And that means you!" Raine yelled, "No trying to grab her butt, thighs, or boobs. I'm giving her permission to use deadly force if you do. And don't stare at her ass!"

Aulin laughed. "I got it. Although I'm still gonna look. Can't help it."

"I'll make sure there's no groping," Alex assured Raine, "I'd hate to lose my girlfriend because she wouldn't keep her hands to herself."

"All of you make sure of it." Raine told everyone on the team.

"Hey Raine!" Preacher yelled from where he stood with the others on her team, "Hurry the fuck up! That Beringel ain't gonna wait for shit!"

Raine chuckled a bit and gave Vivi a long kiss. "I guess I should go. Preacher won't shut up otherwise."

Vivi laughed and nodded. "No, he will not. Good luck, Raine."

"Thanks. See you guys later." Raine said and left them to go to her team.

Vivi watched her go with a smile on her face, watching as she donned her cloak and nearly turned invisible. She turned back to team SLVA and addressed them. "Okay, let's get to our bullhead. We've got a long trip.

Everyone nodded and Vivi led them to their assigned bullhead. They stepped inside and sat down after Vivi closed the door, then the pilot started the engines and lifted it off into the air.

"I know it only has one arm, but..." Alex sighed, "I'm hoping they didn't make a mistake by only having one team required to go after that Beringel."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Vivi said, "Preacher is one of our best, even at his age. If something goes wrong, he'll handle it. I doubt they'll really need him, though. Auron killed that Armaddon, remember?"

"That is true, but that was only after it was pinned to its side," Bell reminded her, "And it was with all our combined effort. They will be going against a Beringel as only four students and a Ranger. And from what happened to Jace last year, we all know that anything can happen."

Vivi nodded. "That's true, but Jace learned from that. They all did. They aren't going to let anything like that happen again. And Jace knows that if he lets his drive for revenge control him, then it could kill him like it did his uncle."

"I'm sure they have this," Inuvali said, "I still wish they would have chosen a mission in Menagerie with us, but that Beringel needs to die before it harms any villagers. I just hope that Vanille won't take it too bad."

"We're going to be there for two weeks," Vivi told them all, "Starting tomorrow, we'll be working two days and then resting for one. That'll be our cycle. We're both gathering supplies and protecting from the wildlife. Any questions?"

"Hey Inu, when is Vanille's birthday?" Alex asked the wolf Faunus.

"In six days, so we won't be working," Inuvali answered him, "If we did, then I assume we could have a day off if we made up for it."

"If it's needed." Vivi affirmed.

"Oh gods, I'm nervous," Aulin said and sighed, "I don't know how to freakin' act there that won't offend anyone."

"How you act won't offend anyone," Inuvali assured her, "Just act normal, but don't hit on everyone you see."

"That's part of my normality, but I know to put a cap on that there," Aulin said, "I don't want someone getting mad at me for a misunderstanding like that."

"And be polite," Inuvali continued, "Everyone in Menagerie, whether it's Hibana or Kuo Kuana or somewhere else, likes that foreigners are polite. And if someone tries to confront you for being human, then let me or Vivi handle it."

"I'll handle it as long as it's later today," Vivi said, closing up her scroll, "I need to meet the Ranger Commandant and the Chieftan in Kuo Kuana. Actually, you all should come too. If the Faunus there see you all having a friendly meeting with their leader, then they'll be more accepting of you."

"That may be best," Bell agreed, " Do you think it is about what Raine suggested?"

Vivi nodded. "That's exactly what it's about."

"Well, you might want to tell him that we may be a bit late," The pilot told her, "Our flight path is putting us through the aftereffects, or worse, the last bit of a storm. We could hit bad turbulence that'll slow us down."

"I hope Gen's alright, then." Alex said.

"He has Nika with him, so I'm sure he'll be fine." Aulin replied.

"I hope you are right." Bell said, tensing up at the mention of the storm.

"C'mon, Belly," Aulin laughed, "Have you ever known me to be wrong?" She asked and Bell opened her mouth to reply, "Besides tests."

Bell rolled her eyes. "I do not recall."

"Exactly! Gen's gonna be fine!"

* * *

After a six hour flight, an hour and a half of it through the storm the pilot warned of, the bullhead touched down at the makeshift airdocks just outside Kuo Kuana. It wasn't so much an airdock as it was just a large area cut out in the trees next to the port town, cleared in anticipation of the arriving students to help.

"Are you alright, Bell?" Inuvali asked his light-red-haired friend.

She nodded and let go of his hand, taking a deep, steadying breath. "I-I am fine, Inu. Thank you."

Inuvali smiled. "Any time."

"Vivi!" Remington called at the edge of the clearing when she and the others stepped outside of the bullhead.

They all quickly walked up to him and greeted him. "Good to see you, Remington. Have you talked with Ghira yet?"

Remington shook his head. "Not yet. I figured it would be best to show up with a Ranger that's also a Faunus. He'll be expecting us at any time."

"Would it be okay if they came too?" Vivi said, motioning to the others with her hand, "I guessed that it may be good for people to see friendly humans greeting their Chieftan."

Remington shook his head again. "Sorry, but no. This is only between Rangers and Ghira."

"I understand," Vivi said and turned to the others, "I'm guessing that you can find your way to Hibana alright, so I'll meet you there. Be at the inn two hours after you get there."

"Okay, we'll see you then." Aulin told her.

Vivi and Remington walked deeper into Kuo Kuana while team SLVR turned north to Hibana, led by Inuvali. They walked from the clearing and down the forested road toward Inuvali's hometown. It was only two miles away to Hibana, a walk that usually took Inuvali one to two hours to complete, then the same on the way back home.

"So... act normal, but not too normal?" Aulin asked Inuvali, "I know not to hit on the Faunus here because they could be mated and their mate will probably really hate that."

"Right," Inuvali nodded, "A Faunus is extremely possessive of their mate. If both of them trust you enough, then they'll be fine with it like Jace and Alyss, and I'm assuming Sapphire and Zack."

"Yeah, just stay calm and you'll be alright. I'm sure you will." Alex told her.

Aulin nodded a few times. "Damn, I'm so nervous! I'm really excited to actually be in Menagerie!"

"Well, try to tone youre excitement down a tad," Bell advised her, "I do not believe we want a misunderstanding like what happened with Braxton."

"Oh definitely," Aulin agreed, "I hope I don't seem like that to anyone. I'm really excited to be here, but it'll be good to help out. This is a fucking beautiful place."

With what she saw of Kuo Kuana, it was stunning and exotic, and Aulin loved what was exotic. The path they took was dirt, and it was lined on both sides with the palm trees and countless different flora. Multiple different types flowers grew at the bases of the trees and they all casted shade on them as they walked on the side of the road.

"It _is_ very beautiful." Bell agreed.

"It's not Heaven's Clearing, though," Alex said, "Nothing's coming close to that, but it's nice."

"You will have to take us there soon," Bell said, "I have been hearing so much about it."

"You both should stop making us so jealous," Inuvali said with a short laugh, "We may skip class just to go to Atlas."

"I would not go that far," Bell giggled a bit, "Perhaps during summer break?"

"That sounds like a plan to me," Aulin said, "But for now, I wanna meet Inu's lil' cutie of a sister."

"I do as well, so perhaps we may pick up the pace." Bell suggested.

"If we go any faster, then we'll just tire ourselves out," Inuvali told them, "And besides, there's a wonderful view coming up that I love walking slowly by. That's mostly why it takes so long for me to walk between the towns."

"I'm good with walking slow," Alex said, clasping his hands behind his head, "It's nice. Not too cold, not too hot, not windy or rainy. It's really, really nice."

They went on for several minutes. While Alex had said it wasn't windy, there was a light breeze that made everyone comfortably cold, except Aulin. The trees on their left eventually disappeared and the ocean came into view, the water sparkling in the sunlight with the reflections on the small ripples in the surface. Everyone looked at the sight while still walking forward.

"It's even better at sunset." Inuvali said.

"I believe it," Aulin said with a grin, "I wanna see it at sunset then."

"My house has the perfect view for it."

"Gods, I love the sea so much. I really don't know what made me so interested in it."

"I'm just glad you all want to come with me when I join Connor's crew," Alex said to everyone, a noticeable smile on his face, "It means a lot."

"I am sure if you asked Barrett, then he would join as well," Bell said, "He has said that he does not know what he wants to do after he graduates. I have noticed he is happier. I suppose Aly truly helped his entire family."

"He definitely _is_ a lot happier than when we saw him in Patch," Aulin said putting an arm around Alex's waist. He responded by dropping his arms, putting one over her shoulders, "And of course, Alex. You know I'd stick by you with whatever you decided to do. That just happened to match up perfect to what I want to do and that's just a bonus."

"It is like I said before. I want to stay close to my family," Bell said, "You are all very important to me and I love you as if you were true siblings. I truly would not know what to do if I did not have you all in my life. You three and Aly's team and Barrett. You all make me thankful that I walk this path."

"Out of anyone that I could have been on a team with, I'm glad it was you three and Barrett," Inuvali said next and finally looked back to the road, "I don't know if I would've been so quick to trust you all if it wasn't for Aulin. She made it easy to trust her, and then Barrett and Bell were everything that humans should be. Kind and accepting to Faunus. They all made me be able to trust Auron quickly, and then you, Alex. Honestly, Aulin is a great leader, and I'll follow that leader through anything."

Aulin started snickering. "You just wanna follow me to look at my ass."

Inuvali opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped and shook his head as he suppressed a laugh. "And here I thought we would have a heartfelt moment without any of that talk."

"I believe you may have ruined the moment, Aul." Bell chided her, but she couldn't stop a light laugh.

Alex just began laughing loudly as his eyes started blurring, both from the laughs and from what he felt. "Gods, that's why I love this team. Thank Oum for my old team being what they were."

* * *

"Inu!" Inuvali's mother exclaimed as she opened the front door of their home to see him and his team.

The village of Hibana had the same architecture as Kuo Kuana, only on a smaller scale. There were smaller buildings in a smaller area than the main port town of the continent. It also had more trees in between the buildings and streets, giving the town a bit more of a natural look. Lamp posts lined the streets at regular intervals, all dust powered to save electricity for the residents and the stores.

"Hello, mom," Inuvali greeted with a smile, "It's good to see you."

His mother had a tan complexion with minimal wrinkles on her face as she was in her late thirties. She had wolf ears that mirrored his, dark gray and long. Her hair was different as it was completely gray only due to her heritage, being a gray wolf Faunus. The color of her eyes matched his, being bright amber. She was three inches taller than him at six feet and one inch tall.

"I didn't know you would be here so soon after landing!" His mother said and motioned for them all to enter her home, "Please, come in. I'm sure you must be tired."

"We did just get here," Inuvali said as she led them all inside, "Shoes and weapons at the door." He told his team.

"Why weapons?" Aulin asked quietly.

"It's basically family and house rules," Inuvali said and slipped his boots off, "Only members of the house can keep their weapons on them while guests leave their weapons at the door. If you were staying the night, then you could keep them in the guest room."

"I won't question it," Alex said and put _Celosia_ , sheath and all, just in the corner, "I'm okay with it."

"So am I. I just wanted to know why." Aulin said, putting _Elementia_ next to Alex's sword.

They finished at the door and followed Inuvali's mother to the living room, where he introduced his teammates. "Mom, these are my teammates. Aulin, Alex, and Bell."

"I figured as much. My name is Gracia. It's nice to finally meet my pup's team."

"It's nice to meet you too, ma'am," Aulin returned the greeting, "I'm Aulin Sylvana. This is my boyfriend, Alex Reznor," She held his hand up, "And the quiet girl is Bell Vonas. You can call her Belly."

"I would not mind it if you did." Bell affirmed, giving a short bow to Gracia.

Aulin scoffed. "So it's fine if Inu's mom does but not me?"

"It is because she is Inu's mother that I would not mind." Bell retorted.

Gracia laughed at the banter. "Oh, I believe I like them already, Inu."

Inuvali nodded. "I kind of guessed you would."

"Please, everyone sit down!" Gracia insisted, motioning to the cushions on the floor surrounding a small table in front of a couch. They all sat down, Alex and Aulin cross-legged while Inuvali and Bell kneeld down, then sat on their calves. Inuvali took _Orochi_ , sheath and blade, from his hip and laid it in front of him on the table.

The inside of the house was more modern and had traditional elements, such as the thin paper doorways and walls on the first floor. The second floor was completely wooden, giving the bedrooms and the upstairs bathroom more privacy like the bathroom downstairs had, being completely covered by wood. The living room had a medium-sized vidcaster in the corner the furthest from the doorway with a shelf under it. On the wall opposite of the doorway was a large window, which gave a perfect view of the ocean where the house was situated next to the shore. The walls of the living room were decorated with wave-like patterns that looked like blue fire, swirling and straightening out at different intervals along the entirety of the walls.

"What do each of you prefer? Coffee, tea, soda, or water?" Gracia asked everyone.

"I would like some tea, if you do not mind." Bell requested.

"I like coffee, but I'll go with soda since it's so late," Aulin said, "What kind do you have?"

"There are only citrus and cola." Gracia said.

"Cola, then."

"I'll take one too" Alex said.

Gracia nodded. "I'll be right back."

She left the room and after a few minutes, she came back with a tray with everyone's drinks on it, with water for her son. She put them in front of each person and then she sat down at the head of the small table.

"I remember you saying there would be more people with you," Gracia said to Inuvali, "Where are they?"

"Something important came up and they took another mission." Inuvali answered.

"They did? I hope Vanille doesn't take that too hard, then. She wanted to meet your friends so much."

"They feel bad about it, but they said they'll make it up to her," Aulin told her, remembering the mission that the others had taken, "We'll all come back here after the tournament during that break. They'll bring gifts and a cake."

Gracia grinned a bit. "Well, I think she'll be just fine knowing that. I'm glad that you four at least made it. What mission did they take?"

"It's in the snowy parts of Anima," Alex answered her somberly, "There was a report of a Beringel and Jace, my brother, wanted to go after it. It only has one arm, and it's the same Grimm that killed his and his adoptive brother's uncle last year."

"Oh, it did?" Gracia _hummed_ , "I hope they're careful. And you said _his_ uncle? Are you not related by blood to him?"

Alex hesitated a bit. "He _is_ my brother by blood, but I only found that out last year. I never knew his uncle, and they aren't related by blood either. Jace and his other brother were adopted. I think I'll leave it to Jace to tell you all of that if he wants to. The point is that I never knew their uncle, so I don't know him like that."

"Ah, okay then. If he wants to tell me details, then he can," Gracia said, "I look forward to when they can be here."

"Where is Vanille at?" Inuvali asked, "With dad?"

Gracia nodded. "They should be back any time. He took her out for ice cream."

"I hope it is soon when they return," Bell said, "From every picture Inu has sent us, I have always wanted to meet her. She is just so adorable."

Gracia laughed. "Vanille has that affect. I also noticed how you kept braiding your hair like that, Inu."

"It grew on me." Inuvali grinned.

"It helped that we all think it suits him." Aulin remarked.

"Vanille will be glad to hear it," Gracia laughed, "She may want to braid everyone's hair that she can. She's kind of in a phase."

"I do not mind it," Bell said quickly, "I do not think any one of us would want to tell her no."

"If I had the hair for it, then I'd let her braid mine too." Alex said.

"Grace, we're home!" A deep-voiced man called from the front of the house.

"In the living room, hon!" Gracia called back, "We have guests!"

A moment later, a little girl with long silver hair stepped into the doorway, her emerald and amber eyes widening as her mouth formed a toothy grin.

"Inu!" She exclaimed and ran forward, jumping into him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug, "You're home!"

"Like I said I would be," Inuvali grinned and ruffled her hair, "I even brought friends."

Vanille looked from Inuvali and smiled at everyone. "It's nice to meet you!" She greeted excitedly.

"I take it you're Vanille," Aulin said and smiled at her, "It's good to finally meet you. Inu's told us all about you."

A second later, a man the same height of Inuvali walked in, five feet and eleven inches tall with a black wolf tail swaying behind him. He had emerald colored eyes and black hair, short and unruly. He had no facial hair at all. He had a katana on his back that looked almost like Inuvali's.

"I was wondering why Vanille took off as soon as I opened the door," The man said, "Good to have you back for a little while, Inu. Is this your team?"

Inuvali nodded. "Purple hair is Aulin Sylvana, red hair is Bell Vonas, and the last is Alex Reznor."

"Wasn't your other friends gonna be here?" Vanille asked, "Where are they? I only see three people."

"Well..." Inuvali hesitated, "Something important came up and they went on another mission."

"But you promised!" Vanille whined, separating from him and crossing her arms as she pouted, "You said they would come!"

"I know I promised, Puppy," Inuvali said softly, "but I didn't make them promise and it was really important for them to go. But they _did_ promise to make it up to you right after the tournament with gifts and cake. They'll be here then."

"Good!" Vanille huffed, "I won't like them if they don't meet me again."

"Does that mean you like us?" Alex asked her.

She looked at him and nodded. "Yeah! You came for my birthday!"

"I'm glad you like my friends," Inuvali said, "Did you like your ice cream?"

"Uh-huh! It was awesome!" Vanille cheered.

"Was it vanilla?" Aulin asked with a grin.

Inuvali's father grunted. "How did you guess? He laughed, "My name is Fenn, by the way. Thank you for wanting to come to help with supplies."

"Part of it was to meet Vanille," Aulin replied, "And the other part was for the actual mission."

"Oh that's fine. You don't even want to meet the parents or anything, only our daughter." Fenn said indignantly.

"We _did_ want to meet you both as well, sir," Bell assured him, "We only wished to meet Vanille more because of all the pictures that Inu has sent us."

Fenn stared at her for a few moments, then his eyes lightened and he chuckled. "It's fine, Bell. We don't mind it. Before I forget, who's toothpick is that next to the door?"

Aulin snickered, nudging Alex with her elbow. "I think he's talking about _Celosia_."

"You think?" Alex laughed, "It's definitely not a toothpick. Do you want to go outside so I can show you?"

Fenn's expression immediately darkened. "Are you challenging Hibana's Chief to a fight, boy?"

Alex immediately straightened his back at the threatening tone. "N-no! That's not what I meant, sir!" He said quickly "I just wanted to know if you'd just like to see it!"

Immediately, Fenn's expression lifted and he started laughing loudly. "I'm just messing with you, Alex!" He said as Inuvali laughed with him, "I knew what you meant, I just couldn't pass that up!"

"I'm glad I never told you how dad is," Inuvali said and ceased laughing, wiping at his eyes, "That was hilarious."

"For you two, maybe," Alex relaxed and looked down at his drink, "Gods, I was worried that I insulted you."

"It's fine, kid," Fenn assured him, "Maybe you can show me your sword later. For now, I want to get to know you all." He said and sat next to Gracia on the long cushion there.

"I did not know your father was the Chief here," Bell said to Inuvali, "Why did you never tell us?"

Inuvali shrugged. "It never crossed my mind to say anything."

"Makes for a big surprise." Alex remarked.

"Man," Aulin shook her head, "I never thought I'd ever be in a den of wolves like this-" She snapped her mouth shut and clamped her hands over it as Bell smacked her arm.

"Aulin!" She chided her, "Do not say that!"

Aulin started shaking her head over and over. "I'm so sorry!" She yelled out as Inuvali, Gracia, and Fenn just stared at her, "I-I didn't mean to say that! It just slipped! I'm used to calling two of our friends kittens and it slipped!"

"Did you really just say that?" Inuvali narrowed his eyes at her.

"Tell me you didn't just say that." Gracia said, crossing her arms.

Aulin gulped and nodded slowly. "I'm really, _really_ sorry..."

Fenn's eyes bored into her for more than a few uncomfortable moments as silence filled the room. Bell and Alex were looking between Aulin and all the wolf Faunus in the room while Vanille just looked around, confused by the silence.

It started with a low chuckle, then that turned into hearty laughs from both Fenn and Gracia. Aulin looked between them both with a look of relief and shock and fear on her face. Inuvali just shook his head and started grinning.

"I'm... really confused." Alex said.

"So am I." Bell said, still glaring at Aulin a bit.

"It's been so long since I've laughed like this," Fenn said, the humor showing heavily in his voice, "Oum, I hope your other friends are like this, Inu. I'm already enjoying their stay."

* * *

The next few days were fairly uneventful for them all. SLVR had begun to provide their assistance to the people gathering materials in the jungle. Trees were being chopped down in a large area, the logs stacked closer to Hibana so they could be transported out easily. Every few hours, the shifts changed and a few of the guards began to cut down trees while the others rested and the remainder of the guards kept with what they were doing.

On the second break day, everyone, including Vivi, had gone back to Inuvali's home for Vanille's eighth birthday. A few of her friends and their parents had come over and it was held mostly inside. When it was time for cake, everyone migrated outside to the chairs and the tables that Fenn had set up for everyone.

Everyone had sung a birthday song for Vanille, and then she blew out the candles of her vanilla-flavored cake. Aulin and the others enjoyed seeing the children enjoy their pieces of cake and have fun playing with a beach ball afterward, hitting it up into the air between each other.

Later in the day, all of the guests had left, leaving Inu's family and team sitting outside to look at the sunset over the horizon. Aulin had her elbows on the table she and her team sat at, propping her head up in her hands as she marveled at it.

"I can never get over how beautiful that can be." Aulin said after awhile of gawking.

"Sadly, this one is never in Menagerie anymore to enjoy it," Vivi said with a sigh, "But that may change one day if she is assigned here with her... girlfriend."

"That view is why we made our home here," Gracia told her, sitting down at the table along with her mate, "That was nineteen years ago after Fenn graduated Haven. Seeing this almost every night made all the troubles of moving and all of our hardships worth it."

"This is a very lovely place to have a home," Bell said. She was running her fingers through Vanille's hair after the tired-out girl had asked to sit in her lap, on the verge of falling asleep, "Perhaps one day I will move here. I just hope I would be able to make myself welcome."

"You won't have to worry about that too much," Fenn told her, "There are a few Faunus in Hibana that are... a bit _extreme_ in their resentment of humans. There hasn't been any reports of violence, but no humans are ever here. I would hope they wouldn't try anything against you all why you're here."

"They'd be dumb to try," Gracia remarked dryly, "Hardly anyone here have fighting skills like Fenn. They won't openly do anything if you have your weapons with you. Also, they should know that if they attempt anything with any of you or any other students, then it could come down on everyone in Hibana and Menagerie as a whole in a bad way."

"And being the Chief of this town, any racists like that will answer to me," Fenn said, "If they try to get violent with you, then..." Gracia gave him a hard look, then she looked at their daughter, "...then it's a matter for when and if it happens."

"Soon, your workload will be taken down a bit," Vivi said, "Ghira and Remington came to an agreement, like I said before. In the next couple of months, we'll be having a Gathering to decide what Rangers will be moved here."

"Out here, we don't hear as much about Rangers or anything like that," Fenn said, "But if Ghira actually met with him about it, then you all must be a big deal."

"It was actually one of our apprentices that came up with the idea of having a few Rangers here." Vivi sighed a bit.

"Did your commandant not give any thought to it before?" Gracia asked.

"Being our leader is tiring work, so probably not. He not only has to direct all the Rangers, but he also has to deal with all the councils and headmasters along with the Rangers assigned to them. He rarely goes on missions, but he works just as, if not twice as hard as everyone else."

"Must have been a bright kid to suggest that and get him to do it, then." Fenn remarked.

Vivi nodded. "She really is."

"They're dating, by the way," Aulin cut in with a grin, "It's my best friend she's talking about. Short fox Faunus that uses a gun as big as her and a bow that _can_ be bigger than her. Vivi here can't get over how awesome she is and Raine can't get over how awesome Vivi is."

Vivi shrugged. "True enough. She's a bright light in this one's life."

"It sounds like you truly care for her," Gracia remarked, "I think this will turn out well for everyone here with what your leader and Ghira agreed to."

"Since it's such a small area because of the deserts and wildlife here, only one Ranger per village should be needed," Vivi said, "One of our more veteran members will be assisting Ghira for now while younger ones are at the other towns."

Fenn nodded. "That sounds good. I hope to have someone to help out with any paperwork I may have to do."

"Hey Bell?" Vanille said tiredly, cutting the conversation off.

"Yes, sweetie?" Bell replied, taking her attention from what was being discussed.

"Can I maybe brush your hair?"

Bell smiled, but Vanille couldn't see it. "Of course. Would it be alright if I brushed your tail?" She looked up nervously to Gracia and Fenn for permission.

"Can she, mama?" Vanille asked.

Both parents looked at each other. "What do you think, dear?" Gracia asked him.

"I know it would be harmless, but..." Fenn sighed.

"Do you remember me telling you all about that food fight last year?" Inuvali asked and they nodded, "Bell cleaned my ears for me after they got so much... _things_ in and on them. She was very gentle with them. She's gentle in everything she does. She won't hurt Vanille's tail at all."

Bell and Inuvali looked at each other. Inuvali smiled and Bell returned it nervously as his parents came to a decision.

"I suppose it would be okay, then," Fenn relented, "Just watch out for tangles. Our Little Puppy plays a lot and tends to get her tail messy."

Bell nodded. "I will be extremely careful with it. I know how most Faunus view their animal traits and I would hate to cause any type of pain to them. Thankfully, my brush helps with tangles because I cannot stand them in my hair at all."

"Hear that, Vanille?" Inuvali grinned and ruffled his sister's hair, "You be careful with her hair too."

Vanille stuck her tongue out at him, then she giggled and stepped off of Bell's lap. Bell went into the house and found her bag that she brought with her, digging in it to find her orange hair brush. She went back outside and saw that Vanille had set up a chair behind hers, sitting in it as she swung her legs back and forth.

"I see someone had their energy restored." Bell said and handed her brush off to her apparent new best friend, a thought she didn't mind at all."

Vanille nodded quickly. "Can I braid your hair too?"

Bell smiled before she sat down. "If you make it look as nice as Inu's, then yes. Or you can make it however you want."

"Thanks, Belly!" Vanille hugged her from behind.

"Oh I didn't even tell her about that nickname," Aulin said with a grin, "Great minds think alike."

"I may have said _Belly_ as I was talking about you the other day." Gracia admitted.

"It was good things, I hope." Bell smiled a her.

"Oh of course!" Gracia nodded, "Fenn and I were talking about how kind and quiet you are."

"I appreciate the kind words," Bell said as Vanille began running her brush through her hair, "I have always been a quiet speaker. At the church when I was a child, the priests and priestesses said they could barely hear me talk."

"I think that comes from her really sensitive hearing," Alex said, "You know, she can hear just about as well as my brother and he's a cat Faunus."

"A cat Faunus?" Gracia looked at him strangely, "And... this is the same brother you were talking about when we met?"

Alex hesitated, just catching what he had said. "Yeah... Same brother..."

"Is something wrong?" Gracia asked.

"Didn't Jace ask us to tell it if it came up?" Aulin asked Alex.

He nodded. "He did. I just... really don't feel comfortable saying it."

"I'll tell them later," Vivi said, "It may take awhile and you all need your sleep for work tomorrow. That is after little Vanille finishes with Bell's hair."

Inuvali chuckled. "Now _that_ may take awhile."


	53. Chapter 53: Eye For An Eye

**Chapter Fifty Three**

 **Eye For An Eye**

"Hey Raine!" Preacher yelled from where he stood with Jace, Alyss, and Auron, "Hurry the fuck up! That Beringel ain't gonna wait for shit!"

Auron chuckled a bit. "She's sayin' bye to her girlfriend that she ain't seen in a few months. Give her a break."

Preacher shook his head. "She can see her in a few weeks. Ain't like this is the end o' the world or somethin'."

"No, but Raine just wants to make sure the others will take care of Vivi." Alyss said.

"The hell could possibly happen? They're cuttin' down trees."

Jace snorted a bit. "Anything. A tree could fall down on her. Or Aulin could keep staring at her." Along with _Legacy_ on his back, he carried a weapon case in his left hand.

Preacher laughed. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"Raine likes to be the one to stare."

"Fair enough, I guess." Preacher grinned.

Raine arrived at them a few moments later, grabbing her rifle from Auron. "Alright, are we ready to go?"

"We've been ready," Preacher said, "Just been waitin' on you to quit mackin' on your girl."

"I only kissed her a few times," Raine rolled her eyes, "I had to-"

"Make sure Aulin wouldn't stare?" Preacher asked.

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess. Let's get the fuck on the road."

"We're takin' a bullhead," Auron said, "It don't need a road."

"Don't start with that shit, Auron," Preacher grumbled, "Let's just go."

They made their way to their assigned bullhead and quickly boarded it. Jace closed the door and the pilot started it up, then she lifted it into the air a few moments later and took off to the northwest. There, Auron reached into his travel bag and handed out jerky to everyone.

Preacher stuck a piece between his teeth and chewed on it for a few moments. "One o' the best things Kat taught you, you know that?" He asked Auron.

Auron nodded and grinned. "Everyone would agree with ya on that."

"Just cooking is pretty great too." Alyss said.

"It don't compare to Kathy's." Preacher replied.

"Ain't no doubt about that." Auron agreed.

Preacher turned to Jace, seeing him staring through the window as the bullhead flew over the land. "I'm understandin' that you got a personal situation with that Beringel. What's that about?"

"It killed my uncle," Jace replied, "He took its arm off before he died. That's how I know this is the same one. I'm going after it because it's not surviving another damned day after what it did," He set the weapon case in front of him and opened it up, revealing the weapon that Axel had given him. He picked _Siege Breaker_ up and inspected the blades of the axe, "Axel gave me this. I had dad bring it over before today and I trained with it in my free time. When it dies, I want to be the one to kill it. And I want this to be what I use."

"You ain't fightin' it alone," Preacher told him, "This ain't all about a personal thing. You all work together-"

"I _know_ that," Jace interrupted him, "I'm not letting this get to my head. We're fighting it as a team. I'm gonna be careful because I am not losing what I have with anyone, especially Alyss. I just want the last strike to finish it. That's all I ask."

Preacher nodded slowly. "Just wanted to make sure you had a clear head about it. Hey pilot!" He called to the woman, "How long 'till we get to Miras!?"

"An hour at most," She replied, "Should be smooth flying the whole way."

"I heard a storm's been moving off from Menagerie," Raine said, "The others are probably gonna have to deal with that."

Jace _hummed_. "I hope Gen's gonna be alright, then."

"I wouldn't worry. He has Nika with him," Alyss said and laid her head on his shoulder, "He'll be okay."

Jace nodded. "Right. When should my arm be oiled?" He asked her.

"We can do it later to be safe," Alyss replied, "After we get settled in at the inn and get some food."

"Sounds good. Then we can talk about how we're gonna track the Beringel down."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Preacher said, "If it was just me, I'd go track it as soon as I get there. Actually, if they'd have actually put it up for Huntsmen, then I'd have already had it dead six ways to Sunday."

Auron snorted. "Whatever, old man. You'd take a break for a day just to rest your old bones."

"Shut up, Auron. I might be old, but I got a lot o' years left in me," Preacher grinned, "I'm feelin' as spry as ever. I could still run circles around you if I wanted to."

"That's 'cause you're a hell of a lot smaller than me. And you're faster, even with your age," Auron retorted, "Let's see you keep up with me if you were my size."

"I'd still whip your ass. I got all the skills of a Ranger to use. What do you have?"

"I can keep up with Pyrrha."

"I bet I could too."

"You're just talkin' out your ass now."

* * *

They arrived in Miras after an hour's flight. The bullhead landed in the clearing next to it and everyone stepped out of it and went straight for the inn. They had garnered a few looks from passing villagers, but mostly from curiosity rather than anything else.

They sat in the main room of the cozy little inn and ate the food that was prepared for them, then Alyss began to perform maintenance on Jace's prosthetic. Then, they began to go over their plan of action.

"This shouldn't take more than a couple days," Preacher said to everyone, his attitude changing to a more serious one than on the flight over, "We'll start tomorrow after you kids get rested up good. I suggest you get to bed early an' have your alarms set to ten. We can have breakfast, then we talk to the hunter that seen the Beringel an' find out where it was. We'll go from there."

"Sounds like a good plan for now," Raine said, idly sipping on a glass of water, "Since it looked like the trees don't have leaves right now, I could probably climb up in one and use my semblance to see through the branches a good ways. If not, then we have three sets of ears to listen for it."

"All we need to do is find a good set o' prints," Auron spoke up and leaned forward a bit, "If we find some, then we should have it but it could take a bit to actually find it."

"Or we could lure it out," Jace suggested as Alyss oiled the insides of his joints, "My dad used himself as bait for the Stalkers over in Vale, which was kind of a really bad idea because it was freaking Stalkers. I'm thinking I could make a lot of noise to bring the Beringel to us. I have two loud weapons for the job."

"And _this_ is less stupid than what dad did?" Alyss asked him and shook her head, "I don't want you to do that. It's too dangerous."

"It really _isn't_ in this situation though," Jace replied, "It's gonna make a lot of noise when it comes to me. With you and Raine not being occupied, you'll be able to hear it better than me. Then you can all ambush it and we can surprise it and hopefully deal with it in less than a minute. And this thing only had one arm, so it's gonna be pretty vulnerable."

"Still gonna hit like a train, probably." Auron said.

"Oh I have no doubts about that. We have to really guard ourselves because it might act really desperate."

Alyss sighed. "I guess it's a smart _and_ dumb idea. And I guess it's all we have. Is there any other way we can do it, Preacher?" She asked the Ranger.

Preacher nodded. "There's a couple ways we could do it. But-"

"What is it?" Alyss interrupted, "I really don't want Jace to be bait for it."

" _But_ ," Preacher continued, "I ain't your strategist. I'm only here to help if y'all get in over your heads. You four gotta come up with a plan for yourselves an' carry it out."

Alyss sighed. "I should've guessed... Same as last year, right?"

"It's gonna be alright, Kitten," Jace assured her, "Like I said, we'll hear it coming. I doubt it'll be quiet like Raine is when she sneaks up on us."

Raine chuckled. "It's very doubtful."

"Yeah, Beringels can't appear from outta nowhere like Raine can." Auron said.

"What, does she jump down from bookshelves or somethin'?" Preacher laughed, "If so, then she can scare the shit outta anyone like Emowyn can. Girl can make a good livin' workin' at a haunted house with her semblance."

"Don't give her any ideas, please." Raine replied with a grin.

"So..." Jace _hummed_ as Alyss flipped his arm back on and began massaging it with an oiled-up rag, "Are all of you okay with the plan?" He asked his team, "It's the only way I see we can do it quicker than following its tracks for gods-know-how long."

"How are you gonna make the noise to get its attention?" Auron asked, "I know you got two loud as fuck weapons, but what about ammo?"

"You can always make us more when we get it finished," Jace said, "I'm probably gonna only shoot one time and then we can move on after a minute or two. It shouldn't be too much of a waste on ammo. Now that I think about it, I'll probably use _Siege Breaker_ for the last hit. I might just use that for shooting. I'm not using it for anything else, especially for heavy fighting."

Alyss sighed in relief. "Good. You shouldn't focus on trying to use it for one thing and I don't want you using it against a Beringel unless you really have to. You're really good with _Legacy_ and if you started using _Siege Breaker_ more, then you might not be used to _Legacy_ for awhile. And you might get hurt."

"Yeah, that would be bad with the tournament coming up," Jace replied, "And besides, I don't wanna make you worry more than I already am with this."

"It may still take a day or so too," Preacher told them, "We're takin' campin' gear an' we're takin' some food to eat whenever an' some food to fix on a fire. Auron's jerky should keep us good too."

"Good that I'm useful for somethin'." Auron snorted.

"We should probably expect other Grimm too," Raine warned, "They may not be with the Beringel, but they might be around the forest."

"Then there might be some actual wildlife to deal with too," Auron added, "But that's unlikely. What's around these parts usually steer clear o' people. They won't bother us if we don't get on their bad side."

"You kids got your plan set out?" Preacher asked them all.

"Even though I hate that my mate is using himself as bait..." Alyss mumbled.

"That was a lot o' rhymin'." Auron remarked.

"It's not that funny, Auron," Alyss grimaced, "I just don't want anyone hurt by taking unnecessary risks. And being bait... That's a huge risk. I had a hard enough time keeping myself from slapping dad when Jace told me what he did for those Stalkers."

"You're too nice to slap anyone, Aly," Jace said softly, "You know I'm gonna be careful. You trust me, right?"

Alyss nodded multiple times. "Of course I trust you. With my soul..." She moved her hand to place over the Mark she left on Jace's shoulder, "I just want this to go as safely as possible, but I'm okay with the plan."

"Don't worry, Alyss," Raine laid a hand on her shoulder, "If something goes wrong, Preacher can handle it."

"I got a pretty good feelin' that nothin's gonna go south besides us when we go back to Haven," Auron said encouragingly, "We got this."

* * *

They stayed in the main room of the inn until eight that night, then they retired to their rooms, one for Preacher and one for JKDW. After that, Jace and Alyss asked for a bit of privacy so they could re-apply their Marks on each other, then everyone had gone to bed. The next morning, they woke up at the designated time and spent two hours preparing. They all gathered their camping gear, being one sleeping bag each, a small cooking pot, a small grill for a firepit, some preserved meat, and some extra water. They had all gathered at the eastern edge of the village, snow lightly falling to the ground around them.

"This is Cal..." Preacher introduced Jace and the team to a man. He was five feet and ten inches tall with medium-long chestnut hair in a tight ponytail. He carried a medium-caliber bolt-action rifle over his shoulder.

"He's the hunter that seen the Beringel," Preacher continued, "He'll show us to where he seen it an' leave us to it."

"I hope you all can do something about it," Cal said nervously, sounding like he was in his late teens, "That thing's been worrying a lot of us that know about it."

"Well, that can't be good for keeping it away." Jace remarked.

"It's doubtful." Cal mumbled.

"Let's set out an' get this done," Preacher suggested, "Sooner we get out there, sooner you can get back here an' relax."

Cal nodded slowly. "Right... Follow me."

The nervous young man led them all out of the village and into the snowy forest. It was dead silent. That was a clear sign that something had been around the area recently, causing the wildlife to migrate away to a safer place. Cal had led the group just over half a mile away from Miras when they saw the first set of large prints and fist-print in the snow.

"Shit, this close?" Preacher shook his head.

Raine knelt down next to them and inspected them closely. "The snow's been falling all morning and these are barely filled in at all... It's been here recently. _Very_ recently."

"Fuck," Jace cursed under his breath, taking _Legacy_ off his back from next to _Siege Breaker_ and resting it on his shoulder, "If that's right, and coming from you I don't doubt it is, then Cal is staying with us until we kill it."

"Wait, what?" Cal shook his head, "I'm not staying out here while some big fucking gorilla monster is around!"

"Do you want to walk back half a mile alone while it's around?" Jace asked him levelly, "Because this thing is somewhere near us. Raine says this was recent, and I believe her."

"So you're giving me a choice to either go with you and maybe get killed, or go back and maybe get killed?"

"If ya wanna look at it that way, then yeah," Auron answered for his leader, "Just know that if you start walkin' back to Miras, I'm knockin' your ass out an' you're comin' with us anyway. It's the safer way."

"Kn-knocking me out is the safer way!?" Cal yelled incredulously.

"Calm down, Cal. Yelling isn't gonna help," Alyss told him, "He's not going to knock you out, but it _is_ safer for you to come with us now. If you get hurt, then I'll help with my semblance. Just stay close to Preacher and you'll be fine."

"Oum, I can't believe I'm in this shit now," Cal groaned, "Damn it... Fine, I'll go with you."

"Just stay outta their way," Preacher ordered him, "You got a rifle, use it when _I_ tell you. You do anything else they tell you 'cause this is their operation here."

"You're... letting a bunch of kids lead this!?" Cal yelled.

"Oh don't start that shit when you're just a damn kid yourself," Preacher scolded him, "I've been walkin' this goddamn world durin' times it was green an' times it was scorched. I know better than what any o' you do. Jace, show 'im your damn arm."

Jace nodded and rolled the sleeve up on his jacket that he wore to disguise why he was never cold. Cal looked at him in shock. "What the hell? I didn't know you lost your arm."

"He knows how to be careful," Preacher continued, "Every one of 'em does. From what I heard, Jace came up with a good plan on their first mission, an' he's got a good plan for this one, if not reckless."

Cal stared at him in confusion. "If it's reckless, then why-"

"They're trainin' to be Huntsmen!" Preacher cut him off irritably, "That's probably the most reckless thing anyone can do. An' besides, what would they learn by me holdin' their hands through this? Nothin' except the thought that they can rely on someone more experienced to give 'em the right orders. So I'm lettin' 'em do their own thing an' if it gets to where they actually need it, then I'll do somethin'."

Cal just stood there for a few moments, clenching and unclenching the sling of his rifle. "Damn... I'm putting my life in the hands of kids..."

"Can you stop it with that?" Raine sighed and stood up from the footprints, "How old even are you?"

"Twenty one, why?"

"You're not much older than us, so shut your goddamn mouth," Auron demanded, "Why in the fuck do you all want us to do this if you ain't comfortable with puttin' your lives in our hands?"

"Some of us never agreed to it," Cal mumbled, "Can we just get this over with?"

"We would've already started if it wasn't for having to convince you to take a safer choice." Jace remarked.

"So that's what you call holding my life in your hands?" Cal scoffed.

Jace rolled his eyes and ignored him. "We'll go maybe half a mile following the tracks, then I'll shoot a bit with _Siege Breaker_. You guys can hide in the trees. Raine, can you decide when it would be time to move on?"

Raine nodded. "Maybe five minutes each time you stop. Then I'd say move half of what we start now. If we don't see it by sunset, then we set up camp for the night."

"Watch schedule?" Jace asked.

"We got six people now," Auron started, "I can take first watch tonight. Maybe hour-long shifts for each person. Or, since _someone's_ bein' pissy about us holdin' his life in our hands," He shot a short glare at Cal, "us an' Preach can take shifts that are an hour an' a half. I learned about that good when we went after that Geist. Motherfuckin' thing takin' over rocks an' shit..." He mumbled the last part out.

"Sounds good to me," Jace said to Auron and Raine, "Let's go."

* * *

They spent the rest of that day trying to draw the Beringel to them. They had performed the strategy that Jace had come up with, mostly with silence from Cal. Everyone climbed up into separate trees that surrounded Jace and waited while he fired off a shot every ten seconds for a minute from his _AGR_. He hadn't shot it much at all since he first got it, but it was nothing like his artillery claymore. That slightly disappointed him, but he didn't care because he finally owned his dream weapon.

Everyone gathered around a hundred feet away from the tracks, which were sufficiently filled in by the day's snowfall. Firewood was gathered up and stones were placed in a circle to make a small fire pit. Jace was about to light the fire, but Alyss put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

"You hear that?" She asked him quietly.

Jace focused himself and listened intently to everything around him. It had been quiet most of the day, and this seemed a bit worse than that. Jace began to hear light grunting and snow crunching to their south. He looked that way and his face took on a look of complete concentration.

"Everyone up in the trees, now!" He whisper-yelled to everyone, taking _Legacy_ off his back.

Cal looked concerned at hearing the order. "What's going on?"

"Shut the fuck up and do it!" Jace ordered him in almost a hiss, flattening his ears back.

Cal jumped and quickly scrambled up into a tree, helped up by Alyss. He sat behind her and brought his rifle out, holding it ready. He gulped nervously and closed his eyes

"Cal!" Jace got his attention.

"Wh-what?" Cal replied.

Jace glared at him as his eyes ruby eyes slitted. "Keep your hands to yourself."

Cal gulped again, scooting back against the base of the tree as Auron laughed. "First time seein' you so defensive of your mate, Jace."

"Good thing he trusts us all with Aly." Raine remarked and looked down _Shagahod's_ sights, eying the south where she heard the crunching of snow get louder.

"Damn right."

Everyone stayed silent after that. Jace heard the footfalls stop and began to hear a deep and heavy breathing, nowhere near what a human would sound like. He pointed the tip of _Legacy_ toward the sound's direction and waited, standing as still as a statue.

The Beringel came into view from behind the trees around forty feet away, looking thinner than what a normal one was and looking almost malnourished, if that could even happen to a Grimm. It slowly walked toward the campsite, swaying back and forth as it kept its balance on its two legs and right arm. Its right eye glowed almost as if in anger and the left eye was gone, scarred over from the damage it took on the day Jace's uncle died. Across its body were numerous scars and its bone armor had multiple gashes in it, making Jace truly believe that Axel put up a fight against it.

 _"Beringels have thick skin and even thicker bone armor..."_ Jace remembered what his father told him when he called to have _Siege Breaker_ sent over, _"Your weapon's gunfire might do a lot of damage over time if you keep moving but it'll shrug it all off for awhile, even with your weapon. It's not gonna let you keep doing that, though."_

Jace clenched the hilt and extended grip of his weapon harder as he was face to face with what killed his uncle. He made the first move. He jumped forward and pulled the trigger, sending a powerful ice dust bullet at the Beringel's chest. It struck its armor while Jace used the recoil to spin in a wide vertical arc, bringing the blade down toward its shoulder.

The Grimm took the shot to its chest and swung its fist at Jace, striking _Legacy_ and knocking it to the side. It reared its fist back again and Auron jumped from the tree above it and sent the tip of _Last Call_ into its hand, piercing through the thinner skin and knocking it off balance. It roared as Auron pulled his blade out of its hand and shot it in the back of its head with two shots from his revolver, then it spun its body around and backhanded him back into the trunk of the tree he jumped down from. It jumped at him, throwing its huge fist toward his head , but he dove out of the way and the Beringel struck the tree, cracking not even a quarter of the way through it.

"Unless it's holding back, then that punch should've just broke the tree down," Raine observed from her perch in another tree, invisible to the Beringel thanks to her cloak, "That's highly unlikely though. I'm pretty sure it's weakened. Try to stay on its blind side."

"Got it!" Jace called out and slashed down hard across the Beringel's left side, drawing a long gash in its skin and armor.

The attack knocked the Beringel more off balance and it nearly fell to the ground, catching itself at the last moment. Auron used his semblance and raised a metal pillar straight into its neck, sending it tumbling backwards and onto its back after Jace sliced out at the back of its leg.

Alyss watched Jace intently as she kept an eye on the Beringel's movements. The Beringel stood back up and charged wildly at Jace, and he rolled out of the way. She looked at where Jace had cut its leg and noticed it was right behind its knee.

"Raine!" She got the apprentice's attention, "The back of its left knee. We could do some damage to it."

Raine nodded and aimed her _Shagahod_ at the wound, then she shook her head. "Think you can hit it?"

Alyss thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Should be able to, yeah."

"You go for the cut. I'll go for the other knee." Raine ordered.

"Right. Watch your fire, please."

Raine chuckled. "Don't worry your pretty little head. I won't come close to hitting Jace." She assured her and pulled the trigger.

The Beringel roared as the force of the shot made its knee buckle and sent it to the ground. Auron jumped in from behind and stabbed _Last Call_ into its shoulder, then he pulled it out quickly and put the barrels of his revolver to it and pulled the triggers, blasting both barrels into the wound.

Auron jumped back before the Grimm could retaliate and sent the last two shots from his revolver into its back. He broke open the revolver and all the empty shells popped out and fell to the ground, then he quickly reloaded with a speed loader that Shyla had made for him.

"Gotta love havin' a weapon designer as a girlfriend, right Auron?" Preacher said with a laugh, looking over the revolver and the magazine in the young gunslinger's rifle.

Auron laughed at that. "It's just a small bonus."

Alyss blasted a few bursts of gravity rounds into the Beringel's cut knee, eventually tearing through and hitting the bone, breaking it and causing the Beringel to fall to the ground on its back.

Jace activated his semblance and grew his wings out, then he flew upwards to fifty feet. He let his wings evaporate off his back and he fell back down, sending gravity dust through the entirety of his blade. He sent _Legacy_ down with extreme force, aiming for the Beringel's right leg. _Legacy_ tore through and crushed its leg and went deep into the ground, sending particles of black blood, snow, and dirt into the air around them.

The Beringel roared and tried to lift itself up to swat Jace away, but Auron blasted its fist away with a shot from _Last Call_. He stood over it and transformed it back to its claymore form. He stabbed it down into its shoulder, sperating the bone from the shoulder, and pinned it to the ground. It roared and writhed on the ground, trying to break free, and Auron kicked it in the head and kept his boot up under its chin.

"I think you can take it out now, Jace," Auron said to his leader, "It's done for."

"Fucking kill it!" Cal yelled, "What are you-"

"Don't yell so close to her ears!" Jace snapped at him and put _Legacy_ on his back.

"You okay, Jace?" Alyss asked her mate, her ears flattened back from the loud yell behind her as she kept her weapon aimed at the Beringel.

"I'm good. Are you?" Jace asked in return and grabbed _Siege Breaker_ from the ground.

"Fine, don't worry. You okay, Auron?" Alyss asked her partner.

"A bit winded from it knockin' me into the tree, but I'm alright." Auron answered her.

Raine jumped down from the tree she was in and looked the struggling Grimm over. "I don't think it was doing all that good for the last year. I expected more of a... well, I just expected more."

"Oh boo-fuckin'-hoo," Preacher scoffed and jumped down from the tree next to it, "Goddamn Grimm goin' a year with one arm, the fuck did ya think would happen? Don't expect any other one to be weak as fuck like this one."

"Definitely," Raine agreed, "This is the only easy way a Beringel can be killed. You ready to finish it, Jace?"

Jace nodded and held _Siege Breaker_ over his shoulder. He walked over to the Beringel and it stared up at him, still trying to break free from Auron. He pressed his boot harder to the Grimm's jaw and looked at Jace.

"Tell me when to move my foot," He requested, "Don't want ya to lob it off."

"That would be pretty bad," Jace said, "Go ahead and move it. Let's get this over with."

Auron nodded and moved his foot, pressing it against the Beringel's chest. Jace took _Siege Breaker_ and held it to his side as he glared down at the weakened Grimm. He took the heavy-bladed axe and held the haft in both hands, sending gravity dust through the whole thing. He raised it high above his head, holding it there for a few moments as he looked up and regarded Alyss.

"Aly, this might be kinda... _brutal_. Even for killing a Grimm," He told her, "Are you sure you wanna see it?"

Alyss nodded. "It won't be the worst thing I'll ever see. It won't even come close to the worst I've seen already."

"What would that be?" Preacher asked her.

"Jace losing his arm." Alyss answered.

"Probably the worst any of us will see in a long time." Raine said dryly.

Jace took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his axe. He gave a loud yell and sent _Siege Breaker_ down, making the weight of it nearly like a huge boulder. The blade went down into the Beringel's neck, the weight making the blade cleave straight through the skin and bone. The Grimm's remaining eye widened considerably as it gave off more of a scream than a roar, lasting for nearly five seconds before it died out, then the Beringel's corpse began to evaporate into black smoke.

Jace lifted _Siege Breaker_ out of the small crevice it created and he stepped over to sit down on one of the logs they had cut before. He took his sword off his back and stuck it in the ground next to him, then he leaned _Siege Breaker_ against it. He looked up into the stars that were growing visible and sighed.

"I miss you, Axel." He said quietly into the darkening sky.

He heard something hit the ground near him and soon after, he felt arms lightly wrapping around his shoulders from behind. "You alright?" Alyss asked softly in his ear.

Jace nodded and placed his hand over hers. "Better than I was when you first asked."

"Think you might be able to rest easier now?" Auron asked and sat down across from him.

"I think so, yeah," Jace answered him, "This thing isn't gonna be hurting anyone any more. Just knowing that this Beringel was still out here just made me not sleep too well since we chose this mission. Now that it's dead, I'm honestly pretty freaking tired."

"So, now that we completed our mission, what do we do now?" Raine asked him.

Jace thought about it. "Well, it'll still be a little bit before I get a full night's rest. We're staying out here because I don't want us going anywhere out here at night. Everyone okay with that?"

"Sounds good to me." Auron agreed to it.

"Same here." Raine said next.

Alyss only sent a feeling of trust and loyalty to him through their Mark, kissing him on the side of one of his cat ears and hugging a bit tighter. Jace smiled and _purred_ a bit at the feelings and felt relaxed as Alyss took a seat next to him.

"Same watch schedule?" Preacher asked, "You can take my spot if ya want. Get some more sleep that way."

Jace shook his head. "I'll be fine. I can wait on sleeping more until we get back to Haven."

Preacher shrugged. "Don't say I didn't offer."


	54. Chapter 54: True Feelings

**Chapter Fifty Four**

 **True Feelings**

 _Three Weeks Later_

"You guys having fun?" One of the dance organizers, a girl with bright pink hair and olive eyes, asked team SLVR as they sat to the side of the dance floor at a table.

Aulin nodded and grinned at her. "It's a lot funner seeing all these guys and girls dressed up nice."

The girl laughed and nodded back. "I'm not denying that. You guys have a good night." She told them all and left.

The ballroom of Haven academy was a bit larger than Beacon's, but was otherwise nearly the same. It was a shame to Aulin that there were no truly remarkable differences, but that didn't matter in the end. She grinned as she watched all of their friends dancing to the music that played in the background, and she grinned the most when she looked at Raine and Vivi together again after so long.

"I'm glad they have these dances every year," Aulin said to her team, "It's good to let loose and watch everyone have fun."

"It is very nice," Bell agreed with her, "I am glad that Jace got that Beringel off his mind. I hope his uncle is resting in peace."

"Yeah, me too. Especially after what Haile told us about him."

"I just wish I could've known him." Alex said sadly.

"I am sure he would be glad to know that you are Jace's brother." Bell told him.

"I can only hope, I guess. Maybe one day when I go, I can meet him then. That's not for years down the road though," Alex grinned and grabbed Aulin's hand, "Wanna go dance?"

Aulin winked. "Let's go."

"Have fun," Inuvali told them, "Don't break anything."

"Now why would you think we would break something?" Aulin asked him innocently, "We did fine last year."

"Because you weren't dating last year," Inuvali said, "Don't go crazy now that you are."

"We'll be fine, Inu. Don't worry," Aulin assured him, "You two be sure to have some fun too. Don't just sit there all night."

"We will dance a bit later," Bell said, "Right now, I wish to watch all our friends enjoy themselves. Now shoo. Go enjoy yourselves as well."

"Belly, just being here with all of you is where most of my enjoyment comes from," Aulin replied with a wide smile, "And people wonder why I'm always cheerful."

Aulin pulled Alex off to the dance floor and left the their teammates there. Bell looked around the room, looking for one of their friends that left nearly an hour earlier.

"I hope Auron is okay." Bell said, looking toward the doors in worry.

"I'm sure he's fine," Inuvali assured her, "He may have gotten held up in traffic."

"One of the pains of having a vehicle of your own, I am sure," Bell shook her head, "I hope he and Shyla can make it before the dance ends."

"Me too. He and his team had better remember their promise."

Bell _hummed_. "I am sure they will. You know how bad they feel about not meeting Vanille."

"True. Vanille should like their gifts. I think they'll get on her good side."

"I hope so. She is too adorable to be mad at anyone."

Inuvali laughed. "She can be adorable when she _is_ mad at someone."

* * *

"Fuckin' finally..." Auron groaned as he shut his truck off in Haven's parking lot.

"At least you didn't have to catch a flight in like, ten minutes," Shyla told him and they got out of the truck, "And then I had to go to a hotel bathroom and change into my dress..."

"Which you look amazin' in, by the way." Auron cut in with a grin, taking in the sight of her girlfriend in her tight black dress, the same one she wore the year before with the white wings on the front of it. And she wore her necklace that had three crosses hanging diagonally by small chains.

Shyla laughed. "You've said that already."

"Do you like me sayin' it?"

"It's pretty great to hear."

"You look amazin' in your dress."

Shyla stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek after he bent down a bit. "As I was saying, then I had to wait for you. My day was hectic."

"We'll sit down for a bit when we get inside," Auron said, "If you want, you can just say hi to everyone, stay for a dance, then we can head to my house. How long are you stayin'?"

"Just a couple days, but I'll be back for the tournament. Oh! Hang on a second!" She quickly walked back to the truck and opened the back door, digging in her bags for a few moments. She pulled something out and brought it over to Auron.

"Here. Took me long enough."

Auron took what she held out to him and unfolded it. It was a coat like his own, black with the logo of Century Arms on the back of it, Remnant's shattered moon with a C and A in the middle and multiple fragments of the moon surrounding the entire logo and swirling up to go around the shoulders and upper arms.

Auron looked it over and nodded. "Alright. I guess it took a long time to get 'em to agree to it?"

"More time than you would believe," Shyla shook her head, "Who knew it would take so much convincing to get my bosses free advertising. But, when they see you wearing it in your matches in the tournament, then I'll be getting a decent raise."

"Good. Gotta get you a bigger place."

"They want you to at least go to the doubles round, but you'll be good with whatever you get to."

"If I have my way, I'm goin' all the way to fight Pyrrha. Gonna have to fight with Jace on who goes to finals though. That is if Genesis makes it."

"Are you two gonna have a sparring match to see?"

Auron laughed. "I hope to hell it don't come to that."

Auron draped the duster over his shoulder and held his other arm out for Shyla. She grinned and hooked her arm through it, then they walked toward the ballroom.

"I like what you did with your beard," Shyla said, "You look more... well, you look more badass."

"Ya think so?" Auron raised his hand and stroked his beard. It was shortened to just more than stubble along his jawline and on his cheeks, then it was full and longer on his chin. Just under his nose was shaved, leaving the hair there to end in points a little past the ends of his mouth.

"Definitely. It's a great look for you."

"Worth the trouble figurin' out what to do, then." Auron grinned.

"How are your weapons doing for you with those upgrades?" Shyla asked him.

"They work great. We fought a Beringel an' the speed loaders helped out pretty good."

"Good. Glad to help out with that."

"Say, how would you feel about goin' to Menagerie with me an' the others after the tournament?" Auron asked her.

"Menagerie?" Shyla parroted, "I-I don't know about that... I don't think I'm ready to be in Menagerie at all. Especially after what I thought about Faunus before-"

"Hey hey hey, calm down, sweetheart," Auron interrupted her, "You'd do just fine if you went there. You do great bein' around new Faunus now an' I'll be right there with ya. You can handle it. You just gotta believe you can."

Shyla sighed. "Well... I'll be off work for a week or so after the tournament. But... I really don't want to leave Amy alone for more than a week. I never really told you that she had a bad few days when I came to visit you over the summer."

"Ah. You wanna be around in case she gets like that again?" Auron asked.

"Yeah... We'll both be in Mistral for the tournament, but..."

"If she wants, she can come to Menagerie too," Auron offered, "Oh, she's welcome to stay at my house too. Mom'll love to have more people to talk to."

"Are you sure?" Shyla asked, "No one else has met her yet..."

"Of course I'm sure!" Auron cheered, "I really want her to meet Alyss too. Maybe get her back healed up. Hopefully that would help her self-esteem issues."

"It's where a lot of it comes from," Shyla sighed, "Do you think-"

"Alyss is gonna want to help her out, don't worry," Auron cut her off, knowing what she was going to ask, "She'll do it for nothin' except to see Amy happy an' confident. You can count on that."

"All of you are so awesome, y'know..." Shyla gave a smile and pulled herself closer to Auron, "If Amy wants to go, then I'll go too. What makes you all want to go?"

"We kinda missed goin' to Inu's little sister's birthday to go take down that Beringel. We're gonna try to make it up to her with gifts an' cake."

"Aww, that's sweet of you guys. Should I try to bring something too?"

"Nah, you shouldn't have to. But Inu said she likes dragons an' things like that. Do what you want with that info."

"I'll think of something."

They reached the entrance to the ballroom and saw Bell and Inuvali stepping out, the former looking like she was feeling guilty. They noticed them and walked over to greet them.

"I am glad you both made it safely," Bell said to them, "It is good to see you again, Shyla."

"You too, Bell." Shyla greeted her.

"You've never met Inu, but this is him," Auron said, nodding his head toward the wolf Faunus, "Inu, you might have two more guests when we go to Hibana."

"Two?" Inuvali asked.

"Me and my friend if she wants to go," Shyla answered him, "Nice to meet you. I like the braid in your hair and the feather."

Inuvali grinned a bit. "Thank you. My sister did it and I decided to keep doing it. If you decide to go, then she may want to braid yours too."

Shyla nodded. "I'll look forward to it."

"We're gonna head inside an' let Shy sit down for a bit after all the movin' around she did today," Auron said to Bell and Inuvali, "See you in there."

"Okay. Have fun." Bell told them and they walked past.

When they were past the doors, Bell dropped her expression and she and Inuvali walked on toward the large oak tree in the courtyard. She sat on a bench there and Inuvali sat next to her.

"Bell, what's the matter?" Inuvali asked, "You've been acting weird tonight. You're usually more happy, but... you look sad now."

Bell nodded. "I _am_ sad. I... I-I suppose I should come out and say it to make it easier on us both..." She turned away from him and looked to the ground, "I am sorry, Inu. I have noticed how you act around me now, how you take care of me, how much time you spend around me... I appreciate you comforting me during that storm and during the trip to Menagerie when we went through the tail of _that_ storm..."

"Belly, I think I know where you're going with this," Inuvali said softly and reached over, brushing his fingers against her cheek, which had a few tears running down it, "You know that I love you. I... haven't tried that hard to hide it, I just never told you."

"Y-you know how I am, Inu..." Bell said quietly.

"Yes, that you're asexual. And I accept that," Inuvali sighed, "I know you won't return my feelings like that. This reason, the fact that you feel so bad right now, is why I never told you. I didn't want to make you feel like this by saying something."

"You should not focus on me, Inu. You should try to find someone that will return your feelings... Someone that is not like me."

"I highly doubt there will be anyone else that I'll feel this way for," Inuvali told her, "You're just so quiet and gentle... A true saint that cares for anything and everyone and I love that about you. You helped me with my hair and ears after RWBY and JNPR started that food fight, and you were so careful. More careful than I thought any human would be with my ears. Aulin might have made it easier to trust her, you, Barrett, Auron, and Alex, but _you_ just make me be able to trust nearly every human I meet. You're the best, Bell, and I love you. That's not changing."

"But why keep trying to make me comfortable and happy?" Bell asked him shakily, drawing her knees up to her chest, "I-if you know that I will never feel the same way, why do you try your best for me?"

"Like I said, it's because I love you. Seeing you happy makes me feel great. Making you happy just fills me with so much joy now. Seeing you smile, hearing you laugh, and being with you now makes me feel... so _alive_ , to be truthful. If I can't be with you like how I wish, then I'll do everything to make you happy and your happiness means the world to me."

Bell buried her face in her knees and cried. "Gods, Inu... Y-you don't deserve to not have your feelings returned... P-please, make yourself happy and go..." Her voice stopped dead in her throat when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, "f-f-find s-someone to love you back..."

Inuvali sighed and began to rub her shoulder. "I can't do that, Bell. I've tried to meet other people, but there is just no one that has my interest. You're the only one, and I never thought before that I would love a human like this. You're my best friend, Bell. I wish you could be more than that... but I know that you never can."

"You don't deserve it..." Bell said weakly, "You don't deserve to have your heart broken."

Inuvali sighed and reached over with his other hand, brushing her hair behind her ear. He hated seeing her like this. "Who says it's broken? I knew what was going to happen when I first realized I loved you. The only thing that's breaking my heart right now is to see your beautiful face ruined by tears. Please stop crying..."

Bell sniffled and tried to stifle her tears. "I-I wish I could return those feelings... b-but I can't. I will never be able to love you back like that..."

"I know, Belly. I know..." Inuvali leaned his head against her shoulder, "It's something we both have to deal with. It doesn't change how I feel about you. I'll still be there for you and try to comfort you whenever you need it. I don't know what else to say to make you feel better right now. I'm sorry."

"You do not have to be sorry. Th-this _did_ turn out better than I thought," Bell raised her head up a bit and gave him a small smile, "I should be thankful for that at least."

"I know it's probably bad to point this out to a girl, but..." Inuvali reached his hand over and wiped at her cheeks, staining the tips of his fingers with light-red eye shadow, "Your makeup's running."

Bell sighed. "I assumed it would be."

"Do you want to go back to the dorm?"

Bell nodded slowly. "At least to clean my face off and reapply my eye shadow. We still haven't danced."

"Are you sure you want to come back?"

Bell nodded again. "I would not want Aulin to worry too much and I enjoy dancing. I think of you as my best friend as well, just so you know."

Inuvali smiled. "I'll take it. I'll text Aulin and let her know where we'll be and that we'll be back."

Bell nodded. "Okay. Umm..." She hesitated a bit, "Do you know how some best friends will hold hands?"

Inuvali nodded. "I do. Why?"

"Well... I could do that with you sometimes at the very least." She offered.

Inuvali smiled even more. "I think I would like that."

* * *

Jace and Alyss sat down after their time dancing, joined by Raine and Vivi. "I'm glad I'm improving," Jace said as Alyss moved to sit in his lap, "Dancing is pretty nice."

"It's better when you have a tail wrapped around your waist." Raine said with a grin and kissed Vivi.

"This one just likes to hold you with everything available." Vivi replied, bringing her tail around to lay across Raine's lap.

"It's definitely an awesome feeling," Alyss agreed, "Especially when we're walking or cuddling and Jace's tail wraps around my thigh. Tails are just awesome."

"Oh, Vanille has the fluffiest tail," Vivi chuckled, "Bell said so herself when she brushed it. She brushed it so well that she put the puppy to sleep too. So cute."

"You're making me want to stow away on a ship to Menagerie, Vivi," Alyss giggled, "I already wanna meet her bad enough without knowing how fluffy her tail is. I wanna brush it now."

"Well, you can pet my tail if you want," Jace offered, "Or brush my hair. I don't think I do that enough for you."

"I won't object to it." Alyss said.

"Oh, well look at who just came in." Raine said, looking over at the doors to see Auron and Shyla.

"Good that Shyla made it," Alyss said and waved at them both, who waved back, "Now Auron can enjoy the dance a bit more."

"When did you both plan to go back to our room?" Raine asked her cat Faunus teammates.

"We'll dance for a bit more at least," Jace said, "It's only what, nine o'clock? We can stay until at least ten or eleven."

"That sounds nice to me," Alyss agreed, "Gods, I can't wait until then. There's no doubt that I really want this with you, Jace," She leaned her head back over his shoulder and kissed his cheek, nuzzling into his neck a bit, "No doubt at all."

Jace smiled and kissed her on the lips. "That's music to my ears, Aly."

"We planned on leaving then too," Raine said, smiling at the two, "Maybe a little sooner. Vivi said she has a nice little hotel room. Are you coming with us to Hibana?" She asked her girlfriend.

She nodded immediately. "Definitely. You can finally see my house."

"Awesome. I can't wait for it."

"You guys havin' a good time?" Auron as he and Shyla sat down at the table.

"We are. We were just talking about how we're taking our Mark further tonight." Alyss told them.

"Finally doing that?" Shyla asked with a smile, "I remember you both talking about it a few months ago."

"This stuff takes time and preparation," Jace replied, grinning widely, "We had to make sure we're ready, and we are now. Plus we wanna do it before Lilith and dad get here so we can have the wait for it out of the way and we can focus more on other things."

"It's good that you're actually gonna do it," Shyla said, "I mean, I never had doubts that you two _really_ love each other, but it's just good to see."

"You'll both have the room all night," Auron said with a grin, "After Shy rests an' after we dance a bit, we're headin' to my house for the night."

"Oh, okay then," Alyss gave a small smirk, "I guess that'll work. Won't it, Kitten?"

"Definitely." Jace agreed.

"Are you feeling rested?" Alyss asked him.

"Wanna dance some more?" Jace asked.

"Yeah. I'm good to go."

"Then so am I."

"I think we'll dance a bit more too," Raine said for her and Vivi, noticing heads of crimson and blonde hair coming off the dance floor, "We'll let you talk to Pyrrha for a bit."

Auron shrugged. "Alright. Have fun out there."

"Seems like that's what everyone says tonight." Vivi laughed.

The two Faunus walked away, then they greeted the arrivals. "Enjoying the night?" Vivi asked them.

Pyrrha nodded. "We are. And you?"

"It's been fun," Raine answered, "At least this time I didn't spend almost an hour not dating Vivi."

Pyrrha and Jaune laughed. "Yeah, and at least this time I know every bit of what a certain someone feels." Jaune said with a grin.

"This one thinks this year is just good for everyone." Vivi said

Pyrrha nodded. "It very much is, and I thank Oum for it. We're going to sit down now, if you don't mind."

"Oh, go ahead," Raine said, "Don't let us keep you from resting a bit."

Pyrrha and Jaune walked past them and sat down across from Auron and Shyla. "How's the newest couple outta all of us doin'?" Auron asked the two.

"I'm still surprised," Jaune replied with humor, "But I'm happy. I wish I didn't make her go through hell, but I was... pretty clueless."

" _Very_ ," Pyrrha corrected him with a laugh, "Things are nice now. I don't need to worry about trying to find some way to say " _I love you_ " when now I can say it whenever I wish."

"And it's a really nice thing to hear and say back to her." Jaune added.

"You ask Jace an' Alyss, they'll probably say the same thing," Auron said, "How's tonight been with nosy assholes?"

"Same as last year, really," Jaune replied, "People saying I don't deserve her, people saying she deserves _blah blah blah_. I don't care."

"And neither do I," Pyrrha smiled, "I'm here with the one I want to be with. I'm beyond happy for that."

Shyla giggled a bit. "That sounds like something Auron would say."

"Well, that's because he told me that last year."

"She's here with the one she wants to be with an' that's what matters." Auron said.

"Him and Nora talking to me actually made me want to ask Jaune on a date at the start of the year," Pyrrha said, "Ever since I first told Auron about my feelings, he encouraged me to tell him and actually talk with Nora. She's been so understanding and helpful too. It was why I asked Jaune to the dance last year."

"Auron's pretty awesome, isn't he?" Shyla asked with a grin.

Pyrrha nodded in agreement. "He is. It makes me happy to be his friend. And when I told Nora, she pushed me even more to tell Jaune. She wasn't as energetic as I thought she would be and she helped my mind settle as much as Auron did."

"Well, I guess I should thank you too, Auron," Jaune said to the gunslinger, "Honestly, I just wish someone would've told me sooner. I mean, Pyrrha was helping me out so much and gave me a lot of signs. Would've been nice for someone to tell me so I can make her stop worrying."

"What matters is that you're together now," Shyla said, "It might've taken you a long time, but now you know you love her."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, that's true. I can't really blame anyone else for me being dumb, but that's in the past. I need to prove that I deserve her."

"Oh Jaune, don't say that," Pyrrha said, squeezing his hand, "No one deserves anyone. It's all a matter of who you want to be with. Right, Auron?"

Auron nodded. "Exactly."

"More of your own words of wisdom?" Shyla asked.

Auron laughed. "A bit. Me an' Genesis have been helpin' our friends out a lot it seems like."

"It means both of you care, and we all appreciate that." Pyrrha said.

"Outta every one of us, I think what Genesis said to Jace last year helped us all be with who we wanna be with," Auron put his arm around Shyla's shoulders and smiled, "Only ones that ain't with someone are Bell an' Inu, which I don't know if you know, but Inu loves Bell."

"I didn't notice for a long time how Pyrrha felt about me," Jaune chuckled, "I had absolutely no idea about that."

"He doesn't hide it. He _is_ usually always with her, and he does stay... very close to her," Pyrrha said, "I know what it's like to be so close to someone without them knowing how I feel."

Auron shook his head slowly. "That ain't the problem. Bell's the one that told me, not Inu."

"Then why doesn't she tell him that she knows?" Shyla asked.

"She don't wanna hurt 'im. Y'all know she's asexual. She wants to feel the same way an' give those feelin's back to 'im, but she can't. I'd imagine that's what they went out to talk about."

"I can see how that would be difficult," Pyrrha sighed, "It must be hard for them both."

"They're pretty close as it is, an' I doubt Bell turnin' 'im down is gonna change anything. May make 'em both closer, who knows."

* * *

Bell and Inuvali returned to the ballroom thirty minutes later. Bell had felt more at peace than before she left to talk to him, and Inuvali felt the same way after it as well. Immediately, Aulin and Alex caught sight of them and abandoned their dance to rush over to them.

"What happened?" Aulin asked quickly, "Are you okay? Why were you crying, Bell?"

"I am fine now, Aul." Bell assured her.

"We talked about my feelings for her," Inuvali said, "You'd be dumb if you didn't realize that I love her."

"Kinda did, yeah," Alex replied, "What happened?"

"I told Inu that I could not feel the same way, but I wanted to," Bell said, "It would be horrible if I tried to be with him and never truly love him. It would be a horrible lie, and I could not live with that."

"Yeah, that would be a... well, a bitchy thing to do," Aulin said, "So, you're both good? Nothing serious you're keeping to yourselves that might be bad for both of you?"

They both shook their heads. "I'm more than happy with being her best friend and with her being mine," Inuvali answered, "Even though I know she can't feel the same, I love her with all my heart. I'll do what I've been doing to keep her happy."

"And that is more than I believed would happen," Bell said, "I am thankful that Inu listened to me and was so understanding. Now, we know how we truly feel about each other, and I believe that we are both better for it."

"That's really good," Alex said, "Both of you are too good to let that divide you."

Inuvali nodded. "When I realized it, I knew I would always be her friend and nothing more."

Aulin stepped forward and grabbed them both in a strong hug. "You both are such good people. I knew that whenever you both talked about it, then it wouldn't hurt your relationship. You're better than that, and you proved it."

"Like we had any doubts, though." Alex said and joined the hug.

"Aul, you are going to make me cry again," Bell laughed as her eyes watered, "I am not going to reapply my eye shadow again. I love all of you as family, and... I would not trade any of this to see my mother again."

* * *

The next two hours went by in what seemed like a blur. Everyone danced, talked, laughed, drank punch, and enjoyed their night. Auron and Shyla had left first after dancing to a few songs, saying goodbye and leaving the campus in the truck they arrived in. Raine and Vivi left next after collecting their bows from where they were left at the door, catching a lift from Auron to the hotel that Vivi stayed at.

Jace and Alyss were the last out of their team, almost ready to leave as well. At least they would be if they hadn't stopped to talk with team GLSS, where two of them were talking to Blake.

"...I know you probably still hate me, and I remember what you said to me when we met," Michael told her, "I can understand why you _would_ hate me. I'm one of the worst types of humans because of what I did with Jace."

"You didn't do that to any other Faunus in Menagerie, did you?" Blake asked him.

Michael shook his head quickly. "No, I didn't do anything like that. Me and Liza talked to some people on our rest days and they told us all the stuff they have to go through living in such a populated and dangerous place with less than what the main continents have. Seeing all of that made me respect them there and made me regret everything I did and said to Jace in the past even more."

"You're not one of the worst types of humans at all, then," Blake gave a smile, "The worst type would be one that keeps talking us down, degrading us, bullying us, and telling us to go away. You're actually talking to me, you talked to and apologized to Jace, and you actively went to learn more about our culture and hardships. I can respect that from the both of you."

Jace and Genesis watched the two talk with grins on their faces. "I never thought to ask about how their personal mission went," Jace said, "I guess it went well."

Genesis nodded. "Even on break days, they went around to learn as much as they could. They really hardly rested that much."

"I'm glad they changed. And I'm really glad that they didn't change before Michael pulled my tail."

"It definitely wouldn't be the same if he didn't."

"It would be a lot less exciting and awesome."

Genesis nodded in agreement, chuckling as he looked over to where Nika and Alyss were talking with Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, "I'm glad you changed academies. Nika made a good fit for the team."

Jace laughed. "I'll bet. When are you gonna marry her?"

"Wh-what?" Genesis sputtered and started blushing, a rare thing for Jace to cause, "I-I dunno... I mean I don't know if I'm ready to make a decision like that. I'd kinda like to, but..." He shook his head, "Not now, though. I wanna focus on school now."

Jace started laughing loudly, nearly doubling over from the force of it. "It doesn't feel too good, does it? You basically said the same thing to me."

Genesis crossed his arms and looked away. "Oh fuck off. Marriage takes time and lien to plan. Faunus put their souls into each other. You can just do that in bed and humans have to go and find a place and get dressed up and invite a bunch of people. I don't see you inviting all your friends and loved ones into your dorm tonight."

It was Jace's turn to blush and turn away. "Shut up, Gen. It's more... personal for Faunus."

Genesis slapped him on the shoulder, giving a grin. "I know. Just gotta give you a hard time."

"Yeah, you _have_ to. Why don't you go bug Alex, huh? He's your little brother too."

"I would, but him and Aul already left."

Jace gave a short laugh. "No question what they went to do."

"Nope."

"I think I'm gonna see if my Pretty Kitty is ready to go. Have fun with the rest of the night, Gen."

Genesis nodded and put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him into a side hug. "You have a good night too, Jace. I may or may not have dropped something off in your room earlier that dad sent over with me."

Jace looked at him in curiosity. "Really now? I guess I'll be surprised. I guess that's where you snuck off to an hour ago."

Genesis nodded. "Yep."

Jace and Alyss said their goodnights to their friends and left the ballroom, both walking happily and nervously. "You feeling what I'm feeling?" Jace asked his Mate.

Alyss nodded. "Nervous and happy..." She looked up and gave him a smile, "It's really strong feelings of it."

"Probably because we both feel it so much."

"Most likely," Alyss jumped a bit, then started _purring_ as Jace moved his tail up her dress a bit, wrapping around her thigh. She put her head on his shoulder and sighed in happiness, "Tonight was fun. I'm glad Shyla made it to be with Auron."

"Me too," Jace replied, "I'm glad everyone had fun. I was kinda hoping JNPR would've danced like they did last year, but oh well. I still have that video on my scroll."

"So do I. It was awesome. They _had_ to have practiced that for weeks."

"I don't see how they would've found the time, but it was one of the best moments of last year."

They continued on to their room in silence, taking in the sight of the moonlight over Haven's campus. They entered the foreign dorm building and went to walk up the stairs, and Jace chuckled.

"Can you go up ahead of me, please?" He asked as sweetly as he could.

Alyss looked at him, confused by the question. "Why would you want me to do that?"

"Because you look really, _really_ amazing in that dress."

It took Alyss a moment, but then she started giggling as she caught what he meant. "Oh you are such a little flirt. Did you really think that would work on me?" She asked coyly.

Jace shrugged, smirking a bit. "I _did_ say please."

Alyss huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm ashamed of you, Jace. Having to try to trick me," She turned away from him, failing to look annoyed, "You could just ask for me to move my hips in our room."

"Could you please walk up the stairs before me so I can look at your butt and can you please move your hips for me in our room?" Jace asked, "Please?"

After a few moments, Alyss turned back toward him and kissed him on the lips. "Since you asked so nicely, yes I can." She giggled and walked on, putting a bit of bounce in her step as she started walking up the stairs.

Jace grinned and walked after her, taking in and admiring the sight in front of him. He resisted the urge to reach out and softly grab her rear, which was hard to do. They reached the top of the stairs and Jace stepped up to walk next to her again, looking down at her with the grin still plastered across his face.

"I fucking love you, you know that?" He said.

Alyss giggled. "Is that because of my ass, or me in general?"

"Everything."

"Good answer."

They finally reached their room and opened the door. They entered, turning the light on to see a bottle and two glasses sitting on a small table in the middle of the room. Jace walked forward and picked it up, then he grinned.

"I don't know how Gen snuck this in here, but damn he's an awesome brother." He said.

"What is it?" Alyss asked him, stepping next to him.

"Dad got us some light cherry bourbon like what we had at Heaven's Clearing and he sent it here with Gen."

"Awesome!" Alyss cheered, "That stuff was the best. Oh?" She reached her hand out and grabbed a piece of paper that was stuck to the back of the bottle, "A note?"

She opened it and they both read what was on it.

 _"Think of this as an engagement gift. From me to my son and my daughter-in-law."_

Jace smiled at the words as he set the bottle down. "I wonder how he knew..."

"I don't know, but I wouldn't question it too much." Alyss told him, working her dress off of her body.

"Right," Jace turned and saw that Alyss was beginning to take her bra off. He let her get it unclasped and moved away from her breasts before he spoke again, "You have the right idea. I'm gonna change into some shorts. This suit isn't that good to relax in."

Alyss nodded. "Okay. I'll show off my butt to you in a little bit."

"I can't wait for it."

Jace kicked his shoes off and grabbed a pair of shorts, then he went to the bathroom to change and take care of his body's needs. He washed his hands quickly and entered the room again. Alyss had taken the tight black shorts off that she had on under her dress and was only dressed in purple panties. She had taken the bourbon over to their bed and had the two glasses poured a bit more than half full, waiting for Jace to come over.

Jace quickly made his way to the bed and eased down onto it next to her, careful not to spill their drinks. When he settled, he took a glass from Alyss and gave ger a deep, long kiss. She returned it, closing her eyes to the feeling, then they pulled back from each other.

"I hope this night is long," Jace said with a smile, "Because I want to make it really special."

Alyss returned the smile. "It's already special, sweetie. It is because I'm with you."

"Well..." Jace took a short drink from his glass and set it on the night stand, "How about we make it even more special?" He asked as he leaned down and kissed where he left his Mark, "Make it _memorable_."

Alyss nodded and took a long drink of the light-red liquid, then handed Jace the glass so he could put it with the other. "I think that's a wonderful idea."


	55. Chapter 55: Time To Play The Game

**AN: Just a bit of a heads up, these next few chapters are going to be more combat focused. Like _really_ combat focused and decently long. This one moreso. You can probably guess** **why.**

 **Chapter Fifty Five**

 **Time To Play The Game**

"Welcome ladies an' gentlemen to the first match of the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Smoke called from the commentator's booth in the Amity Colosseum to thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd. While Haven's combat instructor was at home with her newborn child, Smoke had been asked to be a commentator for the tournament since he was assisting professor Quill for the last months of her pregnancy.

"My name's Jeffery Smoke Karmine. This is the first time I've ever commentated for a tournament an' I'm pretty hyped up. I'm lookin' forward to a good show an' I'm sure you all are too!"

The crowd cheered even more at that as his partner in the booth spoke up. "I have to say, it is a pleasure to have you with me this year, old friend," Epirus said, "This year proves to hold a very interesting string of fights between multiple talented teams of students. Jeffery, would you like to introduce the first teams? I know you have very personal connections to one student."

Smoke laughed. "Don't mind if I do, Epirus. On one side representin' Vacuo, we got team GNJR from Shade. Grayson York, Taylor Nash, James Townsend, an' Riley Ellison..." The team of students raised their weapons into the air, signaling who they were and waving to the crowd with any free hands.

"Then on the other side representin' Vale, we got team JKDW from Beacon. Jace Reznor, Auron Karmine, Raine Daturas, an' Alyssia Wystar."

Team JKDW stepped forward and raised their weapons and free hands to the crowd. "This is a damn surprise," Auron laughed, "Didn't think dad would be doin' this."

"I guess you'll be fighting harder, right?" Jace asked with a grin. He made an alteration to his jacket and inner shirt after the dance, basically cutting out a lot of it to show the Mark that Alyss left on his shoulder. He now kept the jacket zipped up as its whole left shoulder was gone along with his shirt's, giving full view to the Mark. It was Jace's wolf head emblem that held his father's cross and snake emblem in its mouth, and Alyss' oakleaf emblem was in the middle of the wolf head.

"I think we'll all be fightin' harder, knowin' who's in the crowd."

Alyss nodded. "Yeah, I can actually hear mom cheering for us." She had done the same thing Jace did, making her Mark visible past her purple sleeveless vest. She had taken countless hours over the past few weeks fixing it as Jace did. Instead of it covering her shoulder on both sides, it only went under her right arm and left the left shoulder bare, like how Jace had his jacket now except on the opposite side. That Mark was made up of three emblems. The most prominent was Jace's brother's emblem of a cartoonish skull but lacking the sword behind it. Haile's emblem was in the forehead of it, and Alyss' emblem surrounded it all.

"I can hear my mom too." Raine grinned.

"Hey Auron, make sure your back is to the cameras a lot," Jace told his teammate, "Gotta get that logo visible to everyone."

Auron nodded. "Right. I'll try to keep my back to 'em for the most part."

"Now that you know who is competing, let's see the environments they will fight in." Epirus said over the speakers of the colosseum.

The randomizers for the environments came up and cycled through all the options. Eventually, the five screens stopped. Two next to each other stopped on an arid desert, then the last landed on a stormy jungle. The areas descended into the bowels of the arena, then they came back up to show the battlegrounds. The desert areas had multiple cacti and small adobe huts scattered around in ruins. The jungle had dark clouds above them, casting much of the inner parts of it in darkness that was lit up by lightning as thunder rumbled.

"Oh gods, it just had to land on that." Alyss said in worry.

"Yeah, I know what ya mean," Auron grumbled and looked back at the storm, "I hope Bell's gonna be alright."

"I don't imagine Inu will let her be anything _but_ alright." Jace said.

Auron held his bandana out to him. "There ya go, Jace. Keep those ears safe in case you get near the sand.

Jace stuck _Legacy_ into the ground and took the black bandana from him. "Thanks, man." He fastened it over his head tightly.

"Don't mention it." Auron said as Jace grabbed his sword.

"Alright, now that the field's set up, let's officially start the Vytal Tournament!" Smoke called, then the buzzer sounded to start the fight.

Immediately, Riley of the opposing team went after Raine with his staff. She didn't wear her Ranger cloak, only a plain green and gray one that was like camouflage by itself. She guessed that he only went after her because she was the smallest and he thought she only had a ranged weapon.

 _"Oh this'll be fun for him."_ She thought to herself, blocking his strikes with _Shagahod_ and letting him back her into the jungle

Taylor, a girl with a large riot shield, went after Jace. Jace grinned and met her head on with _Legacy_. He spun around and sent his blade toward her shield. The girl took the hit full on with her shield, bracing her legs. Jace was surprised to see that she was unmoved from the hit, then she pushed forward and bashed him back a bit. Jace gave an even larger grin as he prepared another swing, opening the barrel of his blade. She prepared for it again, but her eyes widened comically behind the shield's window as Jace activated his semblance, his muscles bulging across his entire body.

He pulled the trigger and sent the blade crashing into the shield, this time sending Taylor sailing toward the desert area. Jace groaned as he realized what that entailed.

 _"Thank you, Auron."_ He thought to himself. He took a deep breath and charged after her into the sand, firing off a few shots toward her.

Instead of letting the last two attack them first, Alyss and Auron went after James and Grayson respectively. Alyss jumped and twisted her body around over Grayson's two-handed club, sending the blunt end of _Soul Leaf_ toward his face. He took the hit and recoiled back, bringing his weapon up to send it down toward Alyss' head. She held her glaive up and the club struck it, then she redirected it to the side. His attacks were slow, but they carried a great amount of force in them. Alyss jumped away, then she dashed forward and sliced at his side, going through with the turn to blast him in the chest with a few shots from the blunt side.

 _"Well, there goes our strategy,_ " Alyss thought, a bit disappointed, _"I wanted to try out Jace's plan."_

Meanwhile, Auron was overpowering the opposing team's bladed knuckleduster user, Grayson. The boy tried dodging Auron's blade, but he just attacked too fast for him to avoid it all. When Auron brought _Last Call_ down in an overhand attack, Grayson brought both fists up and blocked the attack with his fists. He tried pushing Auron's sword back, but Auron kept the pressure bearing down on him. Grayson was significantly shorter than Auron by a foot and a half and not nearly as strong. He sent a foot out at Auron's leg, but he moved it out of the way and caused Grayson to fall off balance.

Auron sent his right fist toward Grayson in an uppercut, catching him in the chin and sending him to the ground. Auron sent _Last Call_ down in another overhand strike and Grayson brought his legs up and quickly rolled backwards and onto his feet. He brought his vision up only to be met with the twin barrels of Auron's black and gray revolver right in his face. He pulled both triggers and the rounds hit him, knocking him off balance as the muzzle flash blinded him. He brought his arms up defensively and tried to brace for Auron's decievingly fast-paced assault.

Two things about Auron were that he could attack in fast motions, but he was overall a slow mover in a battle. Grayson regained his eyesight and dodged one of Auron's strikes, moving around to his side and back and sending his fists to Auron's sides, the bladed knuckledusters bringing down his aura two percent at a time. Auron sent _Last Call_ in a wild swing, more to get Grayson off of him than do damage, and glanced at the aura displays. His went down to seventy under Grayson's rapid-fire attacks and the shorter boy's was well under thirty.

Auron decided that it was time to reveal his semblance. He sent aura through his leg and stomped on the ground, sending a dust-metal pillar into Grayson's gut and sending him flying into the jungle. Auron repeated the action and sent himself flying after him into the storm. Grayson crashed through branches and vines until he tumbled around on the ground, eventually being stopped as he hit the base of a large tree. Auron sailed through the path that Grayson made and landed on the ground in a sprint, the rain pouring through the trees and down onto them.

"Ah, we got some more fun an' games in the jungle," Smoke said to the crowd, "Don't they have drones for this kinda thing?" He asked his partner.

"We do, Jeffery. It's about time they are sent in to give us view of the action there," Epirus said and two camera drones were sent into the jungle, "The action will be displayed above the center platform of the arena to all sides for the crowd here. The people watching from home will have multiple screens to watch all the students." He explained.

Back down in the arena, Grayson rose up from the ground uneasily as Auron barreled toward him, a camera drone quickly finding them and watching the fight. Auron sent his aura into the ground as he ran, sending a pillar to raise Grayson in the air a bit, knocking the wind from him again. The pillar collapsed and Auron arrived at him, sending his knee up to crash into his gut. While Grayson was still in the air and vulnerable, Auron whipped his revolver across the side of his head and sliced down with _Last Call_ , hitting his back and slamming him face-first to the ground out of aura.

"Damn!" Smoke laughed into the microphone, "Auron didn't hardly give the drone a chance to get there! Grayson York has been eliminated an' I'm probably gonna be smacked when I get home for cussin'!"

Alyss heard the announcement and laughed a bit, the sound making James furrow his eyebrows as he missed a strike. "What's so funny? Think I can't beat you?"

Alyss shook her head quickly and jumped back from him. "No, it's not that. It's just that he's probably right. His wife doesn't like cussing at all."

"Hmm," James grunted, "Alright then..." He sent his club at Alyss in a side attack and Alyss jumped over it. He stopped the motion and grabbed higher up on his weapon, then jabbed at Alyss' chest while she was in the air, sending her falling to the ground.

"Just so you know, Riley can get... _desperate_ ," James warned, speaking fast as he slammed his club down toward her, "If he does anything like underhanded to your teammate, don't take it too personally."

Alyss rolled to her feet, the club cracking the ground as she nodded. "Thanks for the heads up. We saw what happened last year with APCT."

"Yeah... sorry about that."

Alyss jumped forward and planted the blade of her glaive into the ground in front of James. She spun around the shaft and kicked out at her opponent's head and chest, knocking him back from her. She landed on her feet and pulled _Soul Leaf_ out of the ground, bringing the blade up and around in an overhand attack to slice at his shoulder. She carried the swing around and when the blunt end faced him again, she fired off a burst of her gravity rounds to his torso, using the recoil to send her staff back around to stab at his stomach.

James backed up a bit and fell to his knee, then Alyss came at him with a diagonal slash toward his shoulder. James blocked it, holding each end of his club, then he pushed out and knocked it away. He rose up and sent his club down against her shoulder, sending her crashing to the ground. He brought his club up again, preparing to eliminate her, and Alyss brought her weapon close and transformed it to its submachine gun form. She pointed the barrel toward him and held the trigger down, basting multiple rounds into him and sending him on his back. Alyss jumped to her feet and transformed her weapon back to its glaive form, retracting the blade, and she jumped into the air. She brought the end of _Soul Leaf_ down against his chest, bringing his aura past the limit.

"It was a close fight, but Alyssia pulled through and eliminated James Townsend." Epirus called

"Hey..." James breathed as he laid on his back, "I noticed the uh... tattoo thing on your shoulder... Same as the emblem next to..." He looked up at the aura display, "Next to Jace. Congrats. A couple of my friends are mated."

Alyss smiled at the words. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it... I'm gonna sleep now..." James said and closed his eyes.

In the jungle, Raine was taking a more methodical approach against Riley. He had lost sight of her nearly as soon as they entered the jungle, then he was subjected to gunshots and sword slashes from nearly all directions. The rain fell down hard as Riley tried keeping his eyes clear, clutching his staff tightly. Raine didn't know how much aura he had left, but she knew she was still good. She had basically played with the boy, and it wasn't just thanks to her cloak blending with the colors and darkness of the jungle either. He had greatly underestimated her skill as an apprentice Ranger and he underestimated her weapon. She was worried that the camera drones that were around them were going to give away her position, but it seemed that even they didn't see her.

Raine took a slow breath and looked down on Riley from the tree limb she was crouching in, rain dripping off her hood. She aimed down on Riley with _Shagahod_ and charged the barrel up with her aura. She let it charge for multiple moments, waiting for the perfect time to fire as she lowered the barrel to his feet. It came when a bright flash of lightning lit up the jungle and a loud crash of thunder shook the trees. She pulled the trigger on the lighting strike and the supercharged round struck the ground in front of Riley, sending a shower of dirt and mud into the air as the boy screamed in shock and fell to the ground, thinking that lighting just struck at his feet. Raine chuckled under her breath and put _Shagahod_ on her harness at her hip, then she drew her sword.

She slowly stood up from her perch and grinned as Riley scrambled to his feet, trying to regain his senses. She held her blade over her left shoulder, her arm across her chest, then she jumped down. After falling for just a moment, she sliced out at the boy's body as she landed on the ground in a crouch, completely stunning her opponent. She lept forward and cut at his torso numerous times, doing a great amount of damage thanks to the muscles in her arms from all her days practicing with _Amaranth_. She sliced at his knee and sent his leg out to the side, then she performed a fast turn and sent the heel of her boot into the side of his head, knocking him out cold and out of aura.

"Good Oum almighty!" Smoke called with a laugh, "Complete domination by Raine an' Riley Ellison is out like a light. Girl's just about like her big sister."

Raine grinned at the words and shook her head a bit. She looked at Riley, face down in a puddle of water, and moved to pick him up and sit him against the base of a tree so he didn't drown. After that, she sheathed her sword and climbed up a tree, then she followed one of the camera drones out toward the tree line.

Jace was currently in a firefight with Taylor after the girl ducked behind one of the ruined buildings and transformed her shield into its assault shotgun form. She fired a barrage of dust slugs toward Jace and forced him to duck behind a wall. Taylor had knocked Jace onto the ground a few times, which really slowed him down due to sand seeping into the joints of his prosthetic. He had _Legacy_ ready to fire and ran from cover, blasting three rounds toward Taylor. She ducked back behind the building, but the wall was completely destroyed by Jace's small barrage, sending particles of dust and sand up in a cloud around Taylor.

Jace activated his semblance and grew his wings out, then he flew toward the cloud. He went in and sliced out, catching Taylor and sending her flying from the cloud and into the side of another building, breaking through the weak adobe walls. She crashed into the sand on the other side and transformed her large shotgun just in time to block Jace as he came down from the air. The impact of _Legacy_ striking her shield made sand fly up around them and Taylor sink into it a bit. Jace jumped back and Taylor dug herself up from the sand, holding her shield toward Jace. Then it was basically a battle of attrition. Jace couldn't use another shot as the magazine in _Legacy_ was out of ammo, and he didn't want to give her an opening so he could reload. It was a matter of who would last the longest.

Jace had to use _Legacy_ in a one-handed grip since his prosthetic was out of order, having to use his semblance to send the blade at her with as much force as he could. Taylor took all of the hits against her shield and groaned.

"I hate sand. Do you-" Another strike to her shield caused her to pause, "Do you hate sand? This crap- is gonna be a pain- to get out of _Rhyno_."

"Heh, tell me about it," Jace replied and kept up his strong, but noticeably slower assault, "I have three things to deal with after this. _Legacy_ , my arm, and my ears."

"Which is worse?"

"To be honest, I think it's a lot worse when it's in my ears."

"Good luck- with that, then."

"Thank Oum for my teammate's bandana. Good luck with yours."

Taylor let out a snort of laughter. "Good luck to our- teammates too. They have to-"

Suddenly, a powerful force struck the shield and sent it sailing out of Taylor's grasp and skidding across the sand. That was just before Jace would've connected a side strike. _Legacy_ instead struck her torso fully and and sent her flying across the sand, tumbling and rolling as her aura went below the limit.

"With that last hit to Taylor thanks to an impressive shot from Raine, the winners of this match representing Vale and Beacon academy are Jace, Auron, Raine, and Alyssia. Team JKDW!" Epirus said, signaling the official end to the fight as the buzzer sounded.

Jace took a deep breath and put _Legacy_ on his back, then he went to retrieve _Rhyno_. He took it over to Taylor, who was still struggling to get to her feet. Jace helped her up and handed her her shield, which she leaned against as she gained her footing.

"That was a fun fight. I'm used to attacking head on, not using my sword at range," Jace remarked, "You okay?"

"I think... one of my ribs might be screwed..." Taylor breathed out, wincing in pain, "Good hit."

"Well, we can just see my mate about that," Jace said, "She can heal it up with her semblance."

"No shit?" Taylor looked at him with a bit of surprise in her voice, "Thanks for offering."

"Don't mention it."

"I knew I was screwed when I heard the others were eliminated." Taylor said.

"Eh, we're mostly about fairness and one-on-one fights." Jace replied.

"Your teammate shot at me and took _Rhyno_ out of my hands..." Taylor deadpanned.

Jace laughed. " _Mostly_."

* * *

After Alyss healed up Taylor's ribs at Jace's request, more after she actually met Taylor and saw her wincing in pain, the two traveled from the infirmary to go find Bell. "Aulin said Inu took her outside, didn't she?" Alyss asked.

"I think so, yeah," Jace answered her, "He might've taken her back to their room so she could lay down for a bit though. I can't imagine she'd relax too well up here."

"Probably not."

They went out to the airdocks of the colosseum and saw their teammates sitting with Vivi, Shyla, and team SHRA, talking about the match that had just taken place.

"...You think the drone got a good look at my back in the jungle?" Auron asked them all, still soaked, "I mean, I beat Grayson pretty fast once we got in there. An' like dad said, the drone wasn't there too long."

"The camera picked it up just fine," Shyla assured him, "I saw the logo clearly."

"Yeah, the drone was like right behind you," Heath said, "They got to the places pretty quick. It didn't help with seeing much of Raine though."

"And this one thought you said you would be fair to your opponents, _hmm_?" Vivi said with a grin, looking down at her girlfriend.

"What?" Raine crossed her arms, "I specifically said that I wasn't going to wear my _Ranger_ cloak. That's a family cloak that I used."

"We couldn't see you at all through the camera, though!" Sapphire exclaimed, "Not until you actually attacked Riley, but even then you were barely visible."

Raine laughed. "I was seriously worried that the drones would give away my positions, but I guess they couldn't see me either. I'm actually really cold right now because of all the rain."

"I'm a little chilly myself." Auron said.

"Well, I can't do much to help you, Auron," Vivi said and unfolded her cloak from her arm to drape around Raine's shoulders, "But I _can_ do this for my Little Fox."

"Aww, how cute." Zack snickered as Raine pulled the cloak tighter against her.

Sapphire smacked his arm. "Hey, you leave my cousin alone."

"Oh come on, Saph. You know it's cute."

"It really is." Alyss agreed.

"Okay, yeah, it's pretty cute." Sapphire relented.

Raine rolled her eyes and sat down, followed by Vivi. "Well let's just see what you all would do if you were in a storm like that and got out of it all cold and everything."

"Warm myself up with burn dust." Jace answered.

"Besides you." Raine said with a grin.

"Have Jace warm me up with burn dust." Alyss said, grinning back at Raine.

"And besides _you_." Raine laughed.

"Speaking of that storm, has anyone heard from Bell?" Jace asked.

"Yeah, Inu an' the others took her down to their room a couple minutes ago," Auron answered, "We were waitin' for a free airbus to follow 'em down."

"How was she?" Alyss asked, fidgeting in place.

"Shakin' a lot, but on her way to bein' better," Barrett said, "She'll be fine soon. Umm... I didn't think to ask, but are Bell and Inu dating? I remember she told us she wasn't interested in relationships, but I saw them holdin' hands."

"It's nothing like that," Alyss said, "They aren't dating. Inu loves Bell, but she doesn't love him like that. They only hold hands because they're best friends and Bell wants to at least do that for him sometimes."

"Oh. Bell's such a nice girl to do that for him." Barrett remarked.

"Probably one of the nicest girls anyone could ever meet," Heath said, then grinned, "Well, next to Aly."

"What? You don't think I'm nice?" Sapphire asked, feigning hurt.

Heath snorted. "Aly or Bell don't threaten to shiv me for cussing."

"All Aly does is threaten to not rub my ears." Jace remarked.

"She never keeps her threats." Raine added.

Alyss giggled. "I can't stay away from them. They're really soft."

"So's yours." Jace, Raine, and Alyss' old team said at the same time.

"Well that was kinda weird," Alyss remarked, "Okay, me and Jace really need to get to our room so we can get his arm cleaned out."

"It's really bad," Jace said, "First real fight without the sleeve over it and I get a lot of sand in it."

"Are you regretting that you fixed up your outfit?" Sapphire asked.

Jace shook his head. "I don't care as long as this is showing," He said with a grin and pointed at the Mark on his shoulder, "I'm always having this out in the open when I can because I'm proud to have Alyss' Mark on my shoulder."

"That's how I'm gonna see it," Zack said, "Right now, it's just a bruise by looks and that's nothing special. But when I have Sapphire's Mark on me, whatever it is, I'm letting it be seen by everyone."

"I think we might be holding Jace up," Raine said, "His arm _does_ need cleaned out as soon as it can be."

"Oh, right!" Sapphire laughed, "Sorry about that. I'd go ahead and go do that."

"Yeah, I seriously need to," Jace replied, "I can feel the sand grinding and it's really weird and _that's_ uncomfortable."

"At least your ears are good." Auron said.

Jace nodded, returning Auron's bandana. "Can't thank you enough. We're gonna go now. It's gonna take both me and Aly to get the sand cleaned out. I really need to thank Hayley for that manual."

"We'll definitely be there to watch your fight," Alyss assured SHRA, "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Hopefully you won't have sand to deal with."

"Oh gods, tell me about it," Sapphire groaned, "Catch you then, Kitty Cats."

Jace and Alyss waved goodbye and walked past all the people that were crowded around the docks. They pushed past them and were given sour looks most likely because people may have thought they would be skipping ahead to get in an airbus.

"Are you sure you can keep us up in the air?" Alyss asked Jace as they stood at the edge looking down, "Aren't you tired?"

Jace shrugged. "A bit, yeah. I'll just let us fall until we're maybe a couple hundred feet from the ground, then I'll grow my wings and get us down the rest of the way. Sound good?"

Alyss nodded. "Yeah," She gave a sigh of happiness, remembering the weeks after they first met, "I've put my life in your hands like this way before we were mated... If that doesn't show anyone how much trust I have in you, then I don't know what will."

Jace leaned his head down and kissed her on the side of the neck. "Hearing that makes me so happy. That you trusted me like that so soon after we met when I flew us up the side of the cliff to Beacon."

"Even then, you made me feel safe," She turned her head and looked up at him with a smile, "I just really felt like I could trust what you said about protecting me and mom from my father. Mom felt like that too," She craned her head and kissed him on the lips, "I really love you. Like, really, _really_ love you."

Jace chuckled and kissed the side of one of her ears, gaining a deep _purr_ from her. "I really, _really_ love you too, Pretty Kitty. Now, let's go."

Alyss nodded. "Right."

Jace grabbed her firmly around the waist with both arms. He gave a short laugh. "We may be about to give people a heart attack."

"Not unless they weren't paying attention to your match." Alyss said.

Jace shrugged. "True." He said and lept off the edge with Alyss in his arms.

* * *

"Stupid freaking sand..." Jace grumbled four hours later while he and Alyss met with their friends before their fight.

"At least you got your temporary one until you clean your other completely," Aulin told him, "At least you got _Legacy_ all cleaned out too."

"And his ears," Alyss added, "A little bit of sand made it up into the bandana."

"Thank you for that," Jace said, "Y'know, cleaning my ears. You were really thorough."

"How is Taylor?" Bell asked Alyss, "Inu and I watched a stream of the match on his scroll with the sound muted. I take it you helped her? I noticed that she was struggling to stand."

Alyss nodded. "Yeah, her ribs got messed up. It didn't take more than five minutes. I'm a bit tired, though."

"That's to be expected," Sapphire said with a grin, "You and your semblance are awesome gifts to us all. Such a nice girl and a semblance like that is the best combination." Her combat outfit consisted of a lightly armored cuirass tinted with a blue steel color, an armored combat skirt of the same color and dark brown under the metal, a pair of black Mistralian sandals with straps extending up to her knees, and a pair of leather gloves. On the chestplate of the cuirass was her emblem in white, the image of a leaping doe. On her wrists were bracers that had nozzles on the underside.

Inuvali looked at the time on his scroll and took a deep breath. "It's time for us all to get to the arena."

"Well, we'll see you guys out there," Zack said and extended his fist out to SLVR, "May the best team win." His combat outfit was very simple. He wore a pair of black cargo shorts with light greaves on the thighs and pouches on the sides of each leg and his waist. He wore a tight black t-shirt and a bandolier with a few different blades for his weapons, each colored differently. On his hands and wrists were a pair of thick-padded gloves and leather armguards up to his elbows. Lastly, he wore a pair of black knee-high boots. The back of his shirt was his own emblem in bright red, two crossed tomahawks that looked the same as his.

Alex was the first to return the gesture. "However this goes, it'll be a good fight."

Barrett did the same, followed by everyone else on the two teams. "I never guessed that I'd be goin' against my old team like this. It's excitin'."

"It really is," Aulin grinned, "Good luck, guys."

"He taught us all your secrets," Heath warned them as she grinned, "Well, at least most of them."

"Oh, you mean how I rarely sleep with a shirt on?" Aulin asked.

"Same here!" Heath laughed, "We're finding more stuff we have in common by the day, sis." Her combat outfit was simple as well. She had no armor other than leather guards that covered her shoulders and upper arms, connected to each other by a strap across her collarbone. Other than that, she wore an orange tank top and a pair of shortened blue jean shorts, and a pair of dark-brown ankle-high boots The front of her tank top was her emblem in black, a smiling sun with wavy wisps coming from it all around.

"Oh good Oum, no." Inuvali and Bell said at the same time, causing everyone to laugh.

"Good luck, everyone," Alyss told them all, "I really don't know who to cheer for, so I'm rooting for all of you."

"Same here," Jace said, "Maybe I'll see a couple of you in the doubles rounds."

With that, Jace and Alyss went to sit with their family and friends in the stands while teams SLVR and SHRA went into the arena. They all stepped onto the center platform and took sides, then waited.

"It is time for match four of the first round of the tournament," Epirus said, his voice carrying throughout the colosseum, "This one is a bit peculiar. On one side is team SHRA. Sapphire Dahlia, Heath Jerran, Zack Ross, and Barrett Akham. Barrett, in the first semester of their first year, was a member of the opposing team, team SLVR, reperesenting Vale and Beacon academy."

Smoke took the reigns next. "On that team, we got Aulin Sylvana, Inuvali Lirra, Bell Vonas, an' Alex Reznor. Let's bring up the environments."

The displays came up and cycled, eventually landing on four different things. One was a beach area, two were an urban area, two were a rocky area, and the last was a snowy area. All the platforms around them descended into the colosseum, then came up to reveal the fields. In one area was a small beach with water extending out to the edge of the boundaries. The urban area had a few small buildings, surrounding one large tower that was ten stories high, nearly touching the sky barrier. The rocky area was just that, an entire field of rocks as small as gravel up to as large as a house-sized boulder. Lastly, the snowy area didn't hold much other than a small field of snow, with a little igloo and a snowman decorating it.

"Well that's kinda cute," Sapphire said, "How about we not mess with that?"

"Yeah, we might make a few kids cry if we hurt the snowman." Aulin laughed.

"Don't be mad if I accidentally knock someone over there when I hit them with my semblance." Alex told them.

As the seconds went by, everyone prepared themselves and their weapons. Sapphire held the hilts of her curved blades, _Uranagi_ , as a bit of the chains dangled down. The chains were made of pure dust, formed from the nozzles on the underside of her wrists. Zack held his twin tomahawks, _Red_ _Dawn_ , to his sides. Both of them were open-bladed, the areas in the metal open so a person could see through. Heath had her claymore, _Orange Crush_ , held over her shoulder as she gripped the hilt with both hands, it also had a bit of a reddish-orange tint to the metal. The sword was large for her size, the crossguard going out diagonally toward the tip pf the blade a few inches. Barrett gripped _Ifrit_ and _Sheeva_ at his hips, as calm as he could be.

"Alright, it looks like all our fighters are ready to go," Smoke said, "Let's get it started." He finished and the buzzer sounded.

"Let's go!" Heath cheered and jumped toward who she thought would be a good match for her, which turned out to be Inuvali.

He raised _Orochi_ and blocked the slash easily, surprising Heath a bit. Inuvali grinned. "Did you think I wouldn't be able to block your sword?"

"You're as thin as a twig!" Heath exclaimed, freeing _Orange Crush_ from the struggle and trying for a side attack, "You usually just dodge!"

"Fifth strongest in Beacon," Inuvali informed her, blocking the strike again, "Let me show you!" He called and jumped back, letting the tip of Heath's blade strike the ground. He extended _Orochi_ to its full length and dashed forward, striking in a blinding motion that sent Heath backwards a few feet. Inuvali followed through and struck even harder, sending her into the air toward the ruined office building.

"Oh this should prove interesting." Bell remarked with a smile and sent a fireball from _Solaria_ toward Barrett.

Barrett dodged the dust attack and fired a few blasts at her from both barrels of _Ifrit_ , being blocked by an earthen wall summoned from Bell. "I'll say. I hope Heath can remember what Inu's semblance is. That's a bad area for an opponent of his."

"She may be in for a surprise." Bell said.

She jumped up on the wall she created and jumped up again, swinging both ends of _Solaria_ toward Barrett and sending fireballs and bolts of lightning at him. Barrett strafed through the dual element barrage, working his way closer to Bell as she landed. A fireball hit him and exploded, blinding his vision for a few moments. His eyes readjusted quickly and _Solaria_ struck him fully in the stomach, a blast of air knocking him back a few feet. Bell rushed forward and struck fast, each hit blasting Barrett back four to six feet at a time as they slowly moved toward the city ruins.

Aulin and Sapphire were engaged in a battle of both range and melee. Sapphire was moving around, dodging and jumping over all the waves of fire that Aulin sent at her with _Elementia_ as she extended her dust chains and swung _Uranagi_ wildly, the earth dust chains arcing and whipping with every swing as Aulin dodged them as well. The exchange between the two left the crowd ' _ooh_ 'ing and ' _ahh_ 'ing, admiring all the motion the two put into their movements.

"How bad did you say you used to be?" Aulin asked, jumping and performing a backflip in between both blades of _Uranagi_ going opposite directions.

"I was terrible," Sapphire answered her, ducking under a fireball and throwing one half of Uranagi toward Aulin, who dodged and rolled out of its path, "Thanks to Zack and everyone, I've really improved a lot."

"It shows, then. I never woulda known otherwise," Aulin chuckled, sending a barrage of fireballs at Sapphire as she cracked her whip numerous times, "Good to know this isn't gonna be a squash match."

"I never had doubts it would be!" Alex called over to her, _Celosia_ clanging against both axe heads of _Red Dawn_.

Zack held Alex's blade off with one tomahawk as he put the head of the other against an open spot on his bandolier, detaching the blade and letting it catch on a hook-type device, "Neither did I. I'm already having fun." He said and put the hilt of the tomahawk to a red blade, locking it on.

Alex grinned, jumping back as Zack sent the burning tomahawk toward him. "I can tell that much with how much your ears are perked up. Well, as much as they're trying to be."

Zack laughed. "Oh yeah. Definitely having fun, then."

Alex jumped back toward Zack and sent _Celosia_ slicing toward Zack's side. He blocked the blade with one axe, then he spun around and sent the other axe toward Alex's head, setting the blade ablaze with fire. He ducked under and jumped back up, driving his knee into Zack's jaw and sending his forehead crashing down into Zack's. The strike dazed the dog Faunus enough for Alex to slash his blade across his torso a few times, the last knocking Zack back onto the ground. Alex gripped _Celosia_ in both hands and jumped up, looking to bring the blade down hard on Zack but he rolled to the side, then kicked out at Alex's head.

Alex caught his foot and held tightly, then he pulled Zack off the ground as he activated his semblance, his muscles growing and stretching his clothes. Alex spun Zack around numerous times, then finally let go and sent Zack flying toward the rocky area. Alex bolted after him as he sent his aura through his blade and set it ablaze, nearly leaving a trail of fire behind him. He glanced up at the aura display and checked his and his teammates' aura levels. He was at eighty four, Aulin was seventy three, Inuvali was seventy six, and Bell was fifty eight.

His feet touched the gravel and he adjusted his speed so he wouldn't trip. Zack had just landed, creating a trench in the gravel until he hit a large boulder. Alex jumped and tilted backward, drawing his knees up to his chest. Zack rolled out of the way and Alex kicked the boulder hard, cracking it all the way around. Zack dove at him and crossed _Red Dawn_ , then slashed out and hit Alex in the legs. One of his legs came out from under him and Zack spun around in the same moment, bringing both axes into Alex's side and knocking him into the boulder. Alex regained his footing as Zack attacked again, rolling out of the way. He sliced back behind himself and struck Zack in the shoulder, then he spun and kicked him into the boulder.

Zack hit his head against it and was dazed as Alex stuck the hilt of _Celosia_ into his boot's heel. He started pistoning his leg in blazingly fast motions, keeping Zack pinned against the cracked boulder. Alex brought his leg back, then thrusted forward again with all the strength he could. That bit of a pause gave Zack enough of a reprieve to regain his senses, then he dodged out of the way just before the tip pf the katana hit his chest. _Celosia_ lodged itself in a crack and stuck there, leaving Alex's shoulders slumped.

"Are you fucking serious?" He asked in exasperation.

Zack took the opportunity and sent a barrage of slashes toward Alex's torso. "No holds barred, right?" He asked, grinning in the assault.

Alex detached his sword from his boot and dodged the last hits, pulling out his triple-barreled shotgun. "Yeah, no holds barred." Alex affirmed and blasted two of the barrels at Zack.

Zack recoiled back and Alex grabbed his blade, then he put his back against the boulder. He pulled _Celosia_ out of the boulder just as both halves of _Red Dawn_ came at his head. Both Alex and Zack struck each other at the same time, each knocking the other onto the ground.

"Oh, that's a double knockout!" Smoke called out, "Both Zack and Alex are out of the match!"

"Fuck, sorry Alex!" Zack exclaimed, quickly clambering to his feet to help Alex up, "I didn't know your aura was so low or I wouldn't have went for your head! Are you alright!?"

Alex nodded, taking Zack's hand. "I'm good... I'm good. And it's fine, man," He and Zack leaned against the boulder, "That was great."

Zack nodded. "Yeah... I'm gonna have to take me a nap with Saph later. Damn... I-"

All of a sudden, the boulder collapsed behind them and they both fell down to the ground as smaller rocks fell around them. "Fucking hell!" Alex yelled.

Bell sent a fireball at Barrett's feet, causing him to stumble and nearly fall. He regained his footing and moved forward, swinging _Sheeva_ at her head. She performed a backwards handstand and landed back on her feet, but Barrett shot four times into her. He ran forward and pressed a button on the pommel of _Sheeva_ with his thumb, causing dust to burst from the blade to form a longsword of ice.

"You upgraded _Sheeva_?" Bell asked, blocking the blade with Solaria.

Barrett nodded. "Since Aly healed mom, my head's been a lot clearer," He said and shot her stomach with _Ifrit_ , "I spent a lot of time tinkerin' with it," Bell struck him in the shoulder, then she spun around and struck him in the other, "Ah! Gods!" Barrett laughed at the force of the hits, "Kinda took a bit of inspiration from Auron, although it's not a big freakin' claymore."

Bell chuckled. "Not everyone can hold a sword that large with one hand."

Bell stuck one end of _Solaria_ into the ground and blasted her self away from Barrett with a blast of air, landing on a building. She quickly exchanged both dust crystals for fresh burn crystals, then she replaced the dust vials with ones filled with burn dust. She began twirling Solaria above her head as fast as she could, sending a firestorm down toward Barrett.

"Woah..." Barrett's mouth went agape and his eyes widened. When the rain of fire came closer, he shook his head as he frantically tried to dodge it all, "Woahwoahwoawhwoah!" He kept moving as fast as he could through it all. The fireballs hit the ground and turned into puddles of fire thanks to leaking dust-fuel from pipes underground and ruined cars.

Barrett ran for cover behind a wall, but the fire traveled through the pipes and exploded in front of him, erupting into a wall of fire. He ran back and was hammered with dozens of fireballs. They pushed him back against a building and kept him there until they stopped, leaving him gasping for breath after the fire burned the air around him. He wasn't the only one winded, though. Bell was catching her breath as she replaced the depleted crystals. She jumped down and sent a volley of ice shards toward Barrett, and he responded by shooting five firebolts at her from _Ifrit_. He used his semblance and breathed green fire, melting the ice that came at him as he charged at her through the fire on the street with _Sheeva_ , firing at her with _Ifrit_ as well, as she prepared for him.

Barrett arrived and ducked under _Solaria_ as Bell went to hit him in the head, then he sliced across her stomach with _Sheeva_. Bell grunted and backed up as an explosion went off next to them both, sending them both flying into the side of a building away from each other.

"That explosion did a good amount of damage to both fighters, but only Bell is eliminated from the match." Epirus said to the crowd.

"Ow..." Bell groaned, raising to a sitting position.

"I didn't expect a firestorm, Bell," Barrett breathed out, "Gods, I did not expect that at- Watch out!"

Bell immediately looked up and saw a section wall falling over onto her. With her low aura, it could seriously injure her. Barrett jumped over and stood over her, catching the wall against his back as he focused his aura to his back and legs.

"You good?" He asked her.

Bell nodded and moved out of the way of the wall. "Thank you, Bear."

He nodded and slowly eased himself out from under the wall. "Anything for a friend," He said and completely moved clear of it, letting it crash to the ground, "I'd get out of this area if I were you."

Bell nodded. "Right. Good luck, Barrett."

"Thanks. Now I'm off to find my girlfriend."

Within all of that, Aulin and Sapphire had slowly inched their way toward the snow. Each of them were even at around fifty percent aura, evenly matched with their styles. Aulin sent a barrage of ice spikes toward Sapphire and the deer Faunus took out a vial of earth dust from her belt, sending its contents out and creating a shield wall with her aura. She brought both halves of _Uranagi_ to her and let the chains completely crumble. When the spikes struck the wall, she jumped out from behind the wall and charged toward Aulin, stunning her with the action.

Sapphire dove toward her and sliced outward with her daggers, scoring two hits to Aulin's torso. She rolled through and reversed her grip on her daggers, then she struck Aulin in a constant flurry of stabs and slashes. Aulin barely had a way to defend against the attack, so she dove and rolled away, bringing _Elementia_ in on itself in the rough shape of a sword. She sent ice dust through it and hardened the whip, growing ice all along the length of it and giving it a sharp edge. She summoned ice to her left forearm and hand in a thin cluster and ran back at Sapphire, engaging in close combat.

"Oh, I didn't know you could do that," Sapphire remarked, blocking the icy blade with her right weapon, "That's pretty sweet."

"Cool, right?" Aulin grinned and blocked a slash from a dagger with her left hand.

"Okay, don't start with the puns." Sapphire told her. She used her semblance and rose the gravity level of her surrounding area, causing Aulin to slow down in her movements.

Sapphire was unaffected by the gravity change and attacked Aulin in a fast flurry of strikes again. Aulin tried to block the attacks, but she could hardly bring her ice-encased arm up to do much. Eventually, she extended the ice into more of a shield and was able to block the attacks then. Sapphire rose the gravity a bit more and hooked her blades over the top of the shield, pulling it down out of the way. By then, Aulin was already swinging _Elementia_ at her and struck her in the side, causing Sapphire to move out of the way. Aulin kept up the assault the best she could, but the high gravity was too much and she ran out of energy. Sapphire raised her foot and gave a straight kick, sending Aulin down to her back. The deer Faunus jumped over her and rained light but numerous slashes against Aulin's chest, eventually driving her aura past the limit.

"And after things got heavy, Aulin's been taken out," Smoke called to the crowd, "With that, it's three on one against Inuvali. I don't know how-"

"Good Light!" Epirus exclaimed, cutting him off as the office building began collapsing while Heath dove out of the third story windows, "Inuvali is still inside the office building as it is collapsing. Our drone has been taken out and we have no way of knowing if he is alright. Something like this can utterly deplete a person's aura _and_ worse. We will have medical personnel on standby if the worst happens."

"Well, we may not have to worry," Smoke said, "If everyone's been payin' attention, Inuvali's aura is stayin' up at seventy through all o' this unless the display's actin' up.

Back down in the arena, the fire from Barrett and Bell's fight had spread further to the office building, causing small explosions and nearly a sea of fire around it as it completely collapsed, a cloud of dust raising around the area. The crowd was deathly silent as they watched attentively, watching for any signs of movement.

"Oh Oum," Sapphire breathed out as she stared at the destruction, "Heath, what happened?"

Heath shook her head. "I don't know. We were fighting and then there were a few explosions. When it started coming down, I jumped out the window and Inu was still inside."

"His aura isn't goin' down is the weird part," Barrett said lowly, looking up at the displays. After a few moments, his eyes narrowed, "Hang on... It's goin' down, but real slow..." Realization dawned in his ocean-blue eyes, "Get ready. I think he's usin' his semblance. "

"Oh crap, I forgot about that," Heath said and used her own semblance, blasting a steady stream of air from her hands to blow the cloud of dust away, "He never used it in the building."

Soon, they saw a silhouette walking out from the wreckage and through the blazing debris, his hair blowing in the wind that came from the snowy area of the field. He held his sword by the blade near the hilt at his side, extended to its full form behind him. Soon, he stopped walking. A few moments later and without warning, Inuvali dashed from the fire toward them all. He went for Barrett first, as he was the closest one. He struck with the fullest speed that he could and kept Barrett at a small distance away, the large Vacuoan unable to block the blindingly-fast slashes from _Orochi_. Soon, Barrett was driven out of aura as the others watched in shock.

"Through the fire and the flames, Inuvali escaped danger and eliminated Barrett." Epirus called.

Before the veteran Huntsman could even finish, Inuvali went after the last two. Gripping _Orochi_ with both hands, he slashed out with his full strength at the girls, who tried to backpedal away from him. He hit them with a powerful slash and knocked them both away, Heath into a crumbling wall and Sapphire back into the center of the arena. He went after Sapphire without any words, trying not to give any opening. Sapphire came to her feet and used her semblance, raising the gravity around them both in a wider area. Inuvali grinned, still striking as fast as ever as he used the gravity dust in _Orochi_ and shortening it to its collapsed form.

"Wh-what? How are you not slowed down!?" Sapphire asked in disbelief, failing to block all of the attacks from her complete surprise.

"My blade was made nearly completely with gravity dust," Inuvali answered her, "It's as light as the feather in my hair."

One last strike caused her aura to deplete and she fell to the ground. "Sapphire has been eliminated, and now it's one on one between Inuvali and Heath." Epirus announced.

Inuvali turned around and saw that Heath was digging herself up from the pile of rubble she was in. She leaned against _Orange Crush_ as she regained her footing, her aura barely keeping her in the fight. She looked and saw Inuvali dashing toward her and she gulped, holding her claymore ready. Inuvali slashed out against the blade and with his strength, aided by his aura, sent Heath flying through a street light, knocking her aura down past the limit.

"And with a comeback thanks to Inuvali, your winners representing Vale and Beacon are Aulin Sylvana, Inuvali Lirra, Bell Vonas, and Alex Reznor. Team SLVR!" Smoke called through the arena, "That was our last match of the day. It's lookin' good for Beacon this year so far with two teams advancin'. Tomorrow, we got a couple more from Beacon an' then it's the doubles rounds the next day. Have a good day, everyone."

Inuvali took a deep breath and sheathed _Orochi_ at his hip. Soon, he was surrounded by his team. "Holy crap, Inu, that was amazing!" Aulin exclaimed and hugged him, "You won it for us!"

Inuvali shrugged at the praise. "Well, I surprised them a good amount with how fast I attacked and their auras were a lot lower than mine thanks to you and Bell. I only capitalized on their surprise from the building collapsing and the damage you did."

"Yeah, but you finished it," Alex said, "If it wasn't for you at the end, we would've lost."

Inuvali opened his mouth to say something but Bell laughing stopped him. "Oh just accept the praise, Inu. They won't stop either way."

Inuvali chuckled. "I guess you're right."


	56. Chapter 56: Slip-Up

**Chapter Fifty Six**

 **Slip-Up**

"You ready for your match today, Gen?" Jace asked his brother in the gym of Haven.

Genesis nodded, pushing heavy weights up over his chest. "I still have to wait until... after yours and APCT's."

"It should prove to be an interesting fight," Tyr said with a grin, standing just behind Genesis to help in case his arms gave out on him, "If it was anyone else, I would have let Ashe compete in my place. But I wish to face you, Jace."

Jace grinned back. "I've been hoping to fight with you too. I know Auron's been wanting to fight Terra too."

"You all have fun with that," Genesis told them, setting the weights on the hooks of the bench, "while me and Nika probably get our asses handed to us by Pyrrha and Jaune."

"You'd better not lose!" Jace exclaimed, "I want to go against you at the end. Remember our competition?"

Genesis laughed and nodded. "I'm gonna try my best not to lose, but it's Pyrrha _freaking_ Nikos."

"Don't just use that as an excuse." Jace said.

Genesis sighed. "I'll try my best to beat the girl that's undefeated," He shook his head, "I'll definitely try my best to go on to fight you. At least if I lose then Auron has his ideal opponent."

"I guess so."

"Either way any of this goes, we all fight as friends," Tyr told them both, "I look forward to our fight and to seeing how the tournament ends."

* * *

"Alright, folks, welcome back to another day of the Vytal Festival tournament!" Smoke cheered to the audience, preparing for the first fight of the day.

"As you know, today marks the beginning of the doubles rounds," Epirus continued, "Yesterday, two more teams from Beacon advanced, along with one team from Atlas and one from Haven. It appears that this year, Beacon may just win again, but we will not count anyone out of the fight."

"First match we got today is between Beacon an' Atlas. On one side for Atlas representin' team APCT, we got Tyr Alexander an' Terra Lockhart. On the opposite side representin' Beacon an' team JKDW is Jace Reznor an' Auron Karmine. They all had great showin's in their matches before, so we should be in for a good fight. Well, the whole day should be filled with good fights. Let's just hope that a buildin' don't fall on someone's head. Time to cycle the environments!"

As the environtments cycled, all competitors walked closer to each other. "Tyr, I think this is actually the first time we'll fight each other." Jace remarked as the first side was chosen, a watery area.

Tyr nodded and extended his hand. "It will be. This is a fine setting for our first, don't you think?"

Jace nodded and they clasped each other's forearms. "I can't think of a better place or time. Maybe I'll get a chance to see your semblance this year since you didn't get a chance to last year."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Tyr grinned, "We'll see."

"Hmm..." Auron _hummed_ as he looked at his opponent, "How am I gonna go about takin' you down?" He asked more to himself.

Terra shrugged, cracking her knuckles as she grinned more than her leader. "I dunno," She replied as the other side of the arena's environment was chosen, a fiery-looking area, "I mean, you aren't gonna catch me like you did the guy you fought the other day."

Auron chuckled. "That's real doubtful. You actually know to look our for my dust metal."

"And you know to look out for my speed," Terra laughed and stuck her fist out, "You both have to look out for Tyr's semblance. He's very secretive about it."

"I guess we'll be surprised." Auron replied.

The environments were raised from the bowels of the colosseum and everyone separated a few feet from each other. The watery environment was a small set of docks with a few rowboats in the water. Everyone knew the water wasn't deep at all and the boats were only props. The fiery environment was volcanic-looking with scorhed ground, crevices that spouted fire, multiple boulders, and a small valley between two walls of earth. Everyone held their weapons ready as they took in their battlegrounds. Tyr slipped _Earthcutter_ out of his casual grip at the base of the blade and held it in both hands pointed toward Jace, nearly mirroring him. Terra raised her fists up, _Bullhammer_ exuding barely-visible steam out of the ports at the sides. Auron was twirling his black and gray revolver, the one he named after his father, around the index finger on his right hand as he held _Last_ _Call_ over his left shoulder.

"We wish good luck to all competitors today," Epirus said over the speakers, "Let the battle begin."

The buzzer sounded and Terra immediately dashed for Auron. He stopped twirling his revolver and immediately stomped the ground as he holstered it, sending his aura into the ground to summon a wall of metal in front of him. He quickly sent his fist out and used his aura to punch the wall out of the ground toward Terra. The sudden use of his semblance surprised her and the wall hit her head on, sending her tumbling onto her back. She kept that bit of momentum going and rolled back onto her feet, ready to charge at him again. Auron had _Last Call_ transformed and blasted a few rounds into her, striking her fully and taking her aura down by nearly twenty percent.

Jace had jumped at Tyr, immediately trying an overhand attack against him. Tyr blocked _Legacy_ , holding the hilt and tip of the blade, then he sent it to the side and jabbed _Earthcutter_ into Jace's side. Jace stopped his blade and swung in a side arc, catching Tyr and causing him to back away.

"You were not putting your full strength into that," Tyr noted, "You would have sent me several feet away if you were."

Jace shrugged. "I didn't get a full swing."

"Ah," Tyr replied shortly and pressed the button under his sword's crossguard, "I am not used to facing you." He remarked and stabbed _Earthcutter_ into the ground, sending a wave a fire across the ground toward Jace.

Jace stabbed _Legacy_ into the ground as well and the fire struck it, lighting the blade on fire. At least that was what he believed the crowd would think. In reality, he had sent a thin coating of burn dust over his blade's edges and set it ablaze like that. He pulled it out of he ground and readied a swing, then he swung a lash of fire at Tyr multiple times, each at different heights until he let the dust die out on _Legacy_.

Tyr quickly replaced the vial of dust in the base of _Earthcutter's_ blade with one filled with earth dust. He stabbed it into the ground again, then he swung the blade upward to create a shield of earth, letting the fire strike it. Jace came running in and struck the wall with all his strength, shattering it and sending the shards back at Tyr. The Atlesian brought a hand up to block his face as Jace prepared another swing. He struck Tyr in the stomach with his full might without using his semblance, still sending Tyr a fair distance toward the water.

"Now that's my full strength!" Jace called with a laugh and ran after him.

Tyr landed on his feet, sliding backwards until he stuck _Earthcutter_ into the ground to help aid his stop. "I can see that, my friend!" Tyr called back.

Meanwhile, Auron was slowly being backed up toward the volcanic zone by Terra's light-but-fast assault. Soon, Auron planted his feet to the ground and rammed his shoulder into her, knocking her back from him. He began swinging _Last Call_ at her, each strike hitting _Bullhammer_ as she blocked. When Auron swung again, he noticed Terra was moving to knock the blade to the side. He loosened his grip on it and when Terra struck it, it flew out of his hands. Terra, expecting resistance from the strike, fell out of balance for just a moment before she corrected herself. Auron had already pulled _Smoke_ and _Preacher_ from their holsters and began to pull the triggers in perfect synchronization, almost as if they counted to four before starting over again. Terra jumped back when she realized what was happening and ran around, putting distance between them.

Auron kept firing his revolvers at her, some striking her but most missing. He ceased firing and holstered his left one, then he ran for _Last Call_. Before he got to it, he noticed that Terra had stopped and she was bracing her legs. She dug her feet into the ground and bolted off toward him, using her semblance on her legs to move her at superhuman levels. She struck Auron in the gut and sent him back several feet, then he fell to a knee as he caught his breath. Soon, Terra was right there and struck Auron in the chin with a side kick, sending him all the way to the ground.

Auron felt heat on his back and rolled out of the way before a column of fire erupted, heating up his body uncomfortably. Terra jumped up and drew her knees all the way up to her chest, looking to stomp his lights out. Auron sent his aura through his entire body and caused two pillars to rise from either side of him, striking Terra and knocking her away. Auron quickly got to his feet and retrieved _Last Call_ as Terra hit the ground

Jace and Tyr were exchanging blows next to the water, each causing significant damage to the other. Jace swung _Legacy_ hard in a downward swing and Tyr deflected the blade to send the tip into the water. He stabbed _Earthcutter_ into the water and froze it around _Legacy_ , then he pulled his blade out and struck Jace as he was vulnerable. Tyr expected Jace to try to pull his blade out, but was confused when Jace jumped back from it. Jace grinned and sent the inside of his hand to the palm of his prosthetic, half clenching his right hand. He focused his dust and aura to his hands and began to create a claymore of pure ice.

"Well I'll be," Smoke chuckled, "Jace musta done a whole lot o' tinkerin' with that prosthetic o' his to be able to make a sword outta dust like that."

Epirus quickly caught on to what his friend was saying and grinned. "It is truly impressive. I am sure the one who created the arm for him had no idea this would happen."

Jace chuckled at the explanation the two commentators sold to the audience. "Good thinking on their part when I wasn't thinking." Jace said loud enough for Tyr to hear him but not the camera drones.

The two locked blades and Tyr returned the small laugh. "You are truly full pf surprises. I didn't know you were able to do this."

"I've been practicing a lot." Jace replied and freed his dustblade.

Since it wasn't as large as _Legacy_ , he was able to swing it faster, much to Tyr's dismay. With Jace's strength, he was able to swing the blade faster than what Tyr was able to block and deflect. Tyr knew he was on the losing side in the battle now and didn't know how long Jace could keep that blade in his grasp. Tyr ejected the ice dust vial from his blade and brought a specially cut burn dust crystal, moving to put it into the open slot. What Tyr failed to realize was that Jace's dustblade was on a direct path for it. Just before Tyr could put the crystal in, Jace struck it and caused the thing to explode, sending them both back onto the ground.

Jace was the first to come back to his feet, his sword having broken apart at the blast. He quickly moved to _Legacy_ and pulled it from the ice with a bit of effort. He let his friend get back to his feet and retrieve his sword, offering a laugh.

"That was certainly unexpected," He remarked, "Are my ears okay?"

Tyr laughed at the question. "Yes, they are. Alyss would never let me live it down if they were damaged."

"Nope."

Tyr shook his head, glancing at the aura displays. He grimaced a bit. It didn't look good for him, or Jace for that matter after that explosion. "Well... I believe I am on my last legs."

Jace tilted his head. "Don't tell me you're giving up.

Tyr shook his head. "Oh no, far from it. I believe I am going to call for some assistance."

Jace narrowed his eyes. "What are you...?"

His eyes widened as Tyr motioned with his sword to the ground next to him. A moment later, a large gray wolf materialized from gathering smoke and stood with its legs spread apart, glaring at Jace.

"Jace, meet Fenrir," Tyr introduced him to his new companion, "My semblance."

"Okay... So when I heard rumors that you lost your hand because of your semblance..."

"For lack of a better term," Tyr grinned, "Fenrir bit it the hell off."

Tyr pointed _Earthcutter_ at Jace and the summoned wolf jumped at him. Jace brought _Legacy_ up and the wolf's claws scraped down the length of it. Tyr came at him next and Jace was barely able to block it. Jace needed to come up with a plan, and he couldn't do that with a wolf or a warrior attacking him at the same time.

"Nope!" Jace yelled and activated his semblance, growing his wings and launching himself into the air above his attackers. He flew back toward the center of the battleground and landed in the middle, deactivating his semblance

"Hey Auron!" He called to his teammate, "Umm, we're up against three now!"

"What!?" Auron called back, not risking turning around and giving Terra more of an opening than she could already find.

Terra snickered, hitting Auron with two fast hooks to the face. "Tyr's got a lil' wolfie helping out now."

Auron sighed, grunting when Terra connected a spinning kick to his gut. "Damn... I was savin' this for if I fought Pyrrha, but I ain't got a lot of a choice now."

"What are you talking about?"

Auron sent his aura through his right arm and into his armguard. It hit the long box of metal on his forearm and made it extend outward, up and down from his arm forming into a shield. His emblem flared brightly in Terra's surprised face as Auron bashed her away from him, then he bashed even harder and sent her to the ground.

"Why the hell didn't I notice a big freaking box on your arm!?" Terra yelled.

Auron didn't answer and wasted no time, sending his aura through his legs and knocking Terra into the air with a pillar of metal. Auron did the same and sent himself after her, readying a swing with _Last Call_. He opened the tip as he arrived at her and swung overhanded, pulling the trigger a long the way and sending it into Terra's raised gauntlets. The attack hit her aura a bit, but it sent her down to the ground fast and she wasn't able to correct herself before she crashed into a weak boulder, the small of her back smashing into the rounded top and breaking the whole thing down. Soot from the rock flew around and clouded her vision, keeping her from seeing her opponent. Auron came down hard, striking Terra in the chest with _Last_ _Call_ , aided by the force of gravity, causing them both to sink into the rubble a good bit.

"That's my boy!" Smoke cheered for his son, "Terra's out o' the match thanks to that last bit o' thinkin' from Auron, but it still looks like it's two on one."

"Since when can you use a shield?" Terra groaned.

"Well, I had the parts ordered with the ones for my guns," Auron explained with a grin, letting the shield collapse, "I talked with Nora an' she got Jaune's shield for me to take a look at for a bit, then I had it made an' trained for a few weeks when I could. I'm not nearly as good as Jaune an' Pyrrha with a shield, but it was enough for a surprise against you."

"I could've had you if it wasn't for that shield..."

Auron laughed. "Sit tight. This'll be done soon by either Tyr an' that wolf gettin' us both or by us doin' somethin'."

Auron ran off to where Jace as dodging both Tyr and the wolf as best he could. Auron took _Last_ _Call_ and transformed it to its rifle form. He fired off a few shots at the wolf and caused it to snarl in pain. It turned from Jace and bolted toward Auron, barking and snarling as only a wolf could. Auron grinned and sent his aura heavily through his legs, causing a thick pyramid of dust metal slabs to come out of the ground and lock the wolf in place.

"It seems that with that use of Auron's semblance, he has taken his own aura past the limit," Epirus called, "With him out of the match and the wolf captured in metal, it is one on one between the leaders of JKDW and APCT."

Jace noticed that soon after Tyr had summoned the wolf, he was growing tired and sluggish. Jace swung _Legacy_ in an overhand strike and Tyr blocked it with _Earthcutter_. He wasn't able to fully block it as his arms gave out on him, causing Jace to knock him backward.

Tyr barely kept his footing and sighed. "It appears I've made a mistake by summoning Fenrir," He breathed out, "I... have kept this mostly a secret and neglected to train with it... hoping that the first summon would be enough of a surprise for me to quickly end a fight. It halves my aura level. Even if I unsummoned him, which I already have, my aura would stay like this" He took a deep breath and held his blade ready, "You deserve a better fight, Jace..."

"The only thing that could be better than this is me fighting Genesis," Jace offered with a grin, "I'm fighting my first friend for the first time in my first tournament. This is one of the best fights I've been in, man."

Tyr bowed his head a bit. "Let's finish it, Jace. We've made everyone wait long enough."

Jace nodded. "Let's finish it."

Jace ran at Tyr with _Legacy_ to the side. He arrived and swung his blade as Tyr stabbed _Earthcutter_ into the ground and swung upward, raising a thick wall of ice between them. Jace struck it and it exploded into a thick mist of water, clouding Jace's vision. Tyr broke through the spray and came at Jace with all he had, swinging _Earthcutter_ at his legs, arms, and torso. Jace used his prosthetic and blocked a strike from the side, then he activated his semblance and grew his strength. He swung _Legacy_ with a yell and struck Tyr in the side, sending him sliding across the ground.

"A battle between friends is over an' Tyr is outta the match," Smoke called, "The winners, representin' Beacon an' team JKDW, are Jace Reznor an' Auron Karmine."

Jace put _Legacy_ on his back and went to help Tyr up to his feet "Tyr, I don't think your semblance is a secret weapon anymore."

Tyr nodded ruefully. "It appears that way, Jace."

"Now you have no choice but to keep using it and practice with it," Jace told him, "Every day when I discovered it, I practiced with mine. It was so tiring, but then I got the hang of it. Then I grew my wings and I had to spend so much more time training," They met up with Auron and Terra, the former helping her keep on her feet, "I can't wait for the day we can fight when you can fully use your semblance."

Tyr grinned and nodded. "I look forward to the day."

"Looks like you got two rivals, Jace," Auron remarked, "Gen an' Tyr. Who's next, Alex?"

Jace laughed. "I wouldn't doubt it."

"Let's go get me handed off to Paige," Terra requested tiredly, "Man, I need to lay down. My back is killing me now."

They all exited the field and into the hallways of the colosseum. Paige was just past the doors and Auron gave Terra over to him.

"Carry me." Terra said and jumped into his arms.

Paige laughed and held her bridal-style as she almost went limp in his grasp. "Auron, I think you broke my girlfriend."

Auron shrugged. "Ain't my fault she didn't see a shield comin' from this box on my arm."

"I'm dying..." Terra groaned, "Paige, take me to bed. I need healing."

"I highly doubt it's the type of healing that Alyss can give," Jace chuckled, "So have fun."

Paige nodded. "Will do, Jace. Good fight out there."

"Jace!"

"Aure!"

Alyss and Shyla jumped past Paige and Terra, crashing into Jace and Auron respectively with tight hugs as the couple left. "I knew you would win!" Alyss exclaimed.

"That confidence helped me out, you know." Jace grinned and kissed her.

"I never doubted you guys for a second." Shyla said and stood on her tiptoes to kiss Auron.

"I don't suppose you completely counted us out, did you?" Tyr asked them.

Alyss shook her head. "Sorry."

"I barely know you, sooo..." Shyla trailed off.

Tyr chuckled. "Fair enough. I knew I lost when I used my semblance. I honestly considered conceding the fight, but I didn't want to tarnish his win by giving up."

"Hell, I was about out before I put my shield up," Auron said, "It woulda went a different direction if Terra took me out."

"I would've lost, then." Jace continued.

"But you didn't, and that's what matters right now." Genesis said, coming around the corner.

Jace grinned. "True. Now you need to win your match."

"Like I said, I'll try my best," Genesis said, "Hey Auron, got any tips?"

Auron shook his head. "None that would help. She gets more dangerous the longer the fight goes. More focused. Try to keep her on the defense if ya can, but good fuckin' luck."

Genesis nodded and sighed. "Holy shit, I'm about to fight Pyrrha Nikos. I treat her like a regular person, but... damn. I know how good she is."

* * *

"Congratulations on your victory, cub," Lilith said to Jace as they, Alyss, and Haile met under the tree in Haven's courtyard, "It's good to be able to see you in action this year. Are you going to the finals?"

"I really don't know right now, mom," Jace replied, "Gen and Nika still have to fight Jaune and Pyrrha later. If Gen and Nika win, I'm going to finals. If Jaune and Pyrrha win, then Auron's going. We already decided that."

"But what about Pyrrha?" Haile asked, "Didn't you say before that she might not go to finals this year? Let her student show what she taught him?"

"She said that can always wait a year to take a break," Alyss answered, "She wants to go against Auron about as badly as he wants to go against her. They never get too much of a chance during school and we barely have sparring class with her team. They both wanna see how much further they've come."

"No offense to her, but... I kinda want her to lose," Haile said, "I want to see how far Jace and Gen have come since you left for Beacon."

"Either way it goes, it'll be okay with me," Jace said, "I'll be watching a great match between my friends and my brother and his girlfriend. I actually got to fight this year, so I'm happy with that."

"Just think, you and Gen have two more years after this," Haile gave his son a smile, "I can't wait to see what you kids can do when you're in your senior year. That goes for all of you. To be truthful, the thing I can't wait to see the most is how far Alyss can take her semblance. Especially after helping that kid in Calm."

Alyss smiled at what he said. "So do I. I would be perfectly fine if no one ever got hurt, but I want to keep training with my semblance so I can help more when people _do_ get hurt."

"I think the same thing," Jace said, "If it was just between me and Alyss, I wouldn't care how far my skill goes as long as Alyss gets better with her semblance."

"I can't wait to see what all of you kids can do in the future," Lilith said, "You are all so skilled. This world is in great hands with all of you. But like I said before," She looked at Alyss and Jace and gave a warm smile, "Aly is my hero. I'm so proud and happy to be your mother, to have brought you into the world. No matter what..." She sighed as her eyes watered, "No matter what happened with your father."

Alyss matched the sigh and nodded. "One day... I-I want to see him. I want to talk to him."

"Are you sure about that?" Jace asked her.

Alyss hesitated. "I really don't know... I just... really want to see his face again at least... after learning what happened to him..."

Jace pulled her close to him, putting his arm over her shoulders. He reached that hand up and rubbed her ears. "If you decide to, then I'll be right there with you."

"You're my daughter now, so I'm going too." Haile said with a smile.

Lilith looked at her daughter in surprise. "If you really want to... then we can go to Vacuo one day to see him. There's a break after the tournament for two weeks-"

"No." Jace and Alyss interrupted.

Lilith was taken aback by such a blunt answer. "Well... why not?"

Both mates grinned. "We're going to Hibana. In Menagerie." Jace answered her.

"Menagerie?" Haile raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to go there?"

"Well, when really _I_ decided to have our team go take out that Beringel, we changed plans," Jace explained, "Before that, we were gonna go on a mission in Hibana to help with gathering materials for that railway."

"And... we were mostly gonna go to meet Inu's little sister," Alyss continued, "Since we didn't go meet her then, we're all going during the break to make up for missing her birthday. We're throwing her another party to make it up to her because Inu told us she was pretty sad about not meeting us then."

"Oh, well I wouldn't mind going too," Lilith offered, "I've never been. It would be exciting to go and see how everything is there."

"That mean you're going, dad?" Alyss asked Haile, tilting her head and looking at him curiously.

Haile laughed. "Why would you think that? It's not like I cling to Lily like you two cling to each other."

Both of them laughed. "You've been doing a good job proving that wrong since you two met." Jace said.

Haile shrugged. "I just want to help you keep her safe, Jace. She's too nice to be hurt by anything."

"Meeting Haile made me realize where you get your nature from," Lilith said to Jace, "When Haile took me to explore Atlas, he stuck by me and made sure no one tried to do anything to me. Haile, do you... think it may be time to tell them what happened?"

Haile _hummed_. "Maybe. I hate keeping secrets."

"What kind of secret are you two talking about?" Alyss asked.

Lilith looked down as the memory came back to her. "We went shopping at a mall. We went to this little store called _Trancendant_ _Trinkets_. We went in because I saw those two candle holders with the leaf designs on them. Haile offered to buy them both for me. We went in and he wanted to find you something, Aly. To welcome you into his family with. He asked me and... I-I separated from him and went to f-find something that you may like..."

"Oh no..." Jace gritted his teeth, "Don't tell me..."

Haile nodded. "What you think happened _did_ happen. I heard some guy yelling, then I heard Lilith yell back. They came around a shelf and Lilith stood next to me on the opposite side. He went to grab her and I smashed him in the head with my elbow. Knocked him out cold. I grabbed him and softly put him on the ground so he wouldn't make a noise, then I just left him there while I got the things I was buying. Then the cashier..."

"Let me guess," Alyss sighed, "They didn't serve you?"

"Oh she served me alright. _After_ I called General Ironwood to make sure that I could have a person fired for not serving me. After that, we left and went to my truck. Then Lilith told me he did end up grabbing her arm. Hard."

Jace and Alyss' eyes slitted. " _How_ hard, exactly?" Alyss asked calmly.

"Hard enough to cause a large bruise to show up..." Lilith answered, bringing her hand up to the spot, "The marks of his fingers were clearly visible... a-and it was so black around the area..."

"When I saw the bruise, I got her to my truck and I went straight back to that store and drug that guy out," Haile gave a scowl, "I called the police and waited, but Ironwood showed up and arrested him personally. If it wasn't for Ironwood, Gen, or that clearing, I would move from Atlas. There's a new cashier at that place now, one that actually keeps her thoughts to herself."

"That person better be thankful that I wasn't there." Jace growled.

"He should be thankful that _I_ wasn't there," Alyss mumbled, "At least dad was."

"Oh, after that, he hardly let me leave his sight when we were out in the city," Lilith assured her, "Anyone that looked at me wrong, he would glare right at them."

"Good," Alyss said and looked at Haile, "Whenever mom goes to Atlas to visit Heaven's Clearing again, you make sure nothing like that ever happens to her again."

Haile nodded. "It was a mistake leaving her alone for that little bit of time. It was a huge slip-up on my part. I shouldn't have left her alone for a second and I won't make that mistake again."

"Atlas is very much a place worth living in, if only for Heaven's Clearing," Lilith said, "That's a wonderful name for that place, cub. I knew you would come up with something great."

"Yeah..." Jace's eyes reverted back to normal as he sighed, "Be really careful when you decide to go back to Atlas, please... I don't want anyone hurting you almost as much as Alyss doesn't."

"Trust me, kids," Haile said and looked both Jace and Alyss in the eyes, "If anyone ever tries again, they'll get more than just my elbow in the face."

* * *

Genesis stood behind the doors to the arena, rolling his shoulders constantly as he loosened them up for the fight ahead. "Damn it... I'm nervous about this fight."

"Same," Nika replied, shuffling from one foot to the other, "Friendship aside... this is Pyrrha Nikos we're talking about."

Jace laughed a bit, still annoyed from what Lilith and Haile had told him and Alyss of the aging Faunus' time in Atlas. "Gen said as much after my fight."

"Have you fought her in any sparring matches, Jace?" Nika asked.

Jace shook his head. "Nope. We're rarely in the same sparring class. Try your best, but don't worry about winning. There's always two more years to go."

"What happened to you telling me I'd better win?" Genesis asked.

"It's not just me that wants someone to win this match," Jace said, "Auron wants Pyrrha to win so they can fight. Although secretly... he might want her to lose."

"Why would he want that?" Nika asked in confusion, "Aren't they like best friends? Why would he want her to lose?"

"Because they're both sick and tired of all the publicity Pyrrha has just because she's good at fighting. You saw what happened last year when she won when those media people just rushed out the instant she beat Yang. I think Auron might be more sick of it than her because he's had to watch it happen since Sanctum and he couldn't do anything about it."

"Must be pretty hard," Genesis said, "I'll do my best to end that for her."

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds horrible." Nika remarked.

Genesis laughed. "Let's go see if we can win and maybe get Pyrrha's bit of hell to stop."

"That sounds better."

"Good luck, guys. I'll be cheering for you." Jace told them both and left for the stands.

Genesis took _Standoff_ from where it leaned against the wall and put it on his back. He jumped from foot to foot, rolling his shoulders some more in an attempt to prepare himself more. He stopped when Nika lightly grabbed his chin, pulling his vision toward her.

"We can do this, Gen," She said and kissed him on the cheek, "Do you have a plan?"

"Keep them separated. I'll try to hold Pyrrha off. You go for Jaune. He might've gotten better, but you can take him. I'll keep Pyrrha occupied, you take Jaune out, and then we try to take the _Invincible Girl_ down and get our team one step closer to winning this thing."

Nika nodded, patting his cheek. "That's my awesome leader. Let's go."

They walked out into the arena, seeing Jaune and Pyrrha already standing in the center. Jaune, as a symbol of the tutelage Pyrrha had given him, had a sash around his waist with an end that hung down to his knees bebind him, clasped together by a bronze disk.

Genesis and Nika stepped up onto the center platform and gave the two a short wave. "Hey guys. Fancy meeting you here." Genesis greeted.

"Hello," Pyrrha greeted back, "I hope you both have been doing well."

They nodded. "We have been. What about you guys?"

"Everything is very good." Pyrrha answered.

"Man, I'm still wondering if we made a mistake by sending me to fight here," Jaune said nervously, "I don't know if I'm good enough yet..."

"Don't say that, Jaune," Pyrrha said, "You've improved so much. Everyone agreed because we all think the same."

"Michael and Liza basically gave us the spot immediately," Nika said, "They said they still need time to train. They _have_ gotten a lot better, but they just really think it should be us to go up instead."

"The point is, just have some faith in yourself, man," Genesis said to Jaune, "Your teammates do. Your girlfriend does. Maybe it's time you do too."

Jaune gave a sigh, giving a small smile. "You all know how to make me feel like I'm worth all the trouble Pyr has gone through for me. I'm thankful for it."

"Alright, ladies an' gentlemen. It's time for your main event of the day," Smoke called to the audience, "Well, it's the main event 'cause it's last today, not 'cause o' who's in it. Anyways! I'll hand this introduction over to Epirus. He's got some personal connections to a couple o' the fighters here."

"That, I do," Epirus spoke up, "On one side, we have Genesis Galloway and Nika Styles, representing Atlas and team GLSS. And on the other side, we have Jaune Arc and my daughter, Pyrrha Nikos, representing Beacon and team JNPR. I am looking forward mostly to seeing just how much Pyrrha was able to teach Jaune, considering he has been under her wing, as it were."

"I remember them trainin' back over summer break at the house. Jaune put in a lot o' work, now it's time to see what that's got 'im. Let's see what they'll be fightin' in."

As the displays cycled, Genesis took _Standoff_ from his back and held it up in front of him. He lowered it with the tip pointed at his opponents and let out a measured breath.

"Listen guys," He started and grinned a bit, "I'm gonna be fighting as hard as I can so I can go fight my little brother in the finals. You'd better bring your S-game."

"' _S_ '?" Jaune parroted, "Isn't it supposed to be A-game?" He asked.

"Normally, but I'm going by videogame stuff. 'S' is typically better than 'A'. 'Z' is in some cases. I'm giving all I have."

"Then we will as well," Pyrrha said and summoned _Miló_ and _Akoúo_ to her right hand and left forearm respectively. She watched as Nika took _Light_ from the sheath that was on her hip, "Nika, I'm sure your brother would be very happy that you still use the sword he made for you."

Nika smiled. "Thanks, Pyrrha. I'm gonna try to put on a good show for him."

"Then let's all do our best," Jaune said, unsheathing _Crocea Mors_ and extending his shield to its full form, "For anyone with him that might be watching us too."

Nika took a hand and wiped at her eyes with the top of it. "Yeah..."

Genesis nodded. "For anyone who's watching..." He said as his eyes began to blur.

"You okay, hon?" Nika asked him.

Genesis took a hand from his sword's hilt and wiped at his eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just... realizing now that I have more eyes on me than who's watching in the stands."

They didn't even notice that the environments were already chosen and created. They looked around at it all for a few moments. On one side was water like Jace and Auron's fight, but it had no docks or boats, and it was freezing cold with many slabs of ice. The other side held a rocky area much like team SLVR and SHRA's match a few days prior, but instead of gravel, it was just smooth along nearly the entire area.

"The field is set for combat and it appears that the fighters are ready. Now it is time to begin the match." Epirus said and the buzzer sounded.

Jaune and Pyrrha jumped forward together and Genesis and Nika did the same. The two Atlesians went in between them and drove them outwards from each other, Genesis and Pyrrha going toward the rocky area and Nika and Jaune going toward the ice fields.

Pyrrha evaded every swing Genesis sent her way, transforming _Miló_ to its spear form and jabbing out at him between swings. Genesis took the light hits against him as he drove her further away from her partner. Pyrrha tried to jump up over him, but Genesis blocked her with a decievingly fast overhand swing with _Standoff_ , sending her back in front of him. It was the same result if she moved to the sides.

"Divide and conquer?" Pyrrha inquired.

Genesis shrugged. "Two shield users back to back would be damn-near impossible to beat. At least in my opinion."

Nika squared off against Jaune, who was more aggressive than what Pyrrha was being. He slashed out from behind his shield against Nika, who deflected the strikes and pushed him back further toward the ice. Jaune dug his heels against the ground and bashed her back, then he sliced at her multiple times, scoring direct hits before she began to deflect and parry the attacks. She went low for an attack and struck his legs before he sent his shield down, causing him to stumble a bit. Nika put _Light_ in its sheath and pressed a small button on the metal part, causing the edges of it to light up red. She immediately drew it back out, the edge of the blade roaring as it was set ablaze.

"Woah! I didn't know you did that to your sheath!" Jaune exclaimed.

"I didn't," Nika replied and sent the fiery blade against Jaune's shield, "It's always been like this. I never use this feature. Only for special occasions, or if I really need to."

Genesis used his semblance, sending his aura through his legs to cause an explosion of fire that sent Pyrrha sailing into the rocky field and himself into the air above her. Pyrrha landed on her feet and brought _Akoúo_ up above her, blocking a crushing strike and taking a hard hit to her aura. She used her strength and sent Genesis to the side, then she jumped over him and jabbed the edge of her shield into his chest, blocked by his chestplate. Genesis raised his hand up and shot a torrent of fire at her, making her jump off of him. He stood up and Pyrrha lunged _Miló_ at him, and he angled _Standoff_ the right way and sent her to the side. Genesis sent the blade after her and struck her in the back just as she started to roll through, which softened the blow a bit. She swung _Miló_ as she came to her feet, striking him in the side of the head.

He stepped back, then he prepared an overhanded swing. He decided to take a page out of his little brother's book and sent the blade down against Pyrrha, who jumped back. _Standoff_ struck the ground and created a shallow trench as Genesis brought the blade back around, then he moved in a pinwheel motion, sending it at his opponent multiple times. Pyrrha jumped back from most of them until the last when Genesis jumped at her. She blocked the hit with _Akoúo_ and slid backward. She came to a stop and threw her shield at him, the edge grazing his cheek. She also threw _Miló_ , striking him fully in the chest. Genesis jumped at her again and she jumped over his blade, backflipling away as she summoned her weapons back to her.

Jaune was effectively blinded as Nika kept up her assault, striking his shield and sending bright sparks to fly and the fire on _Light_ to intensify. Soon, she had caught the face of his shield on fire and she slowed down with her assault, letting the fire die out on her sword's edge. Now, she had to push. She used her semblance and caused _Light_ to glow brightly with her white aura. She held the hilt with both hands and swung hard against Jaune, driving him back toward the ice. Nika attacked at multiple angles, sometimes hitting his shield and sometimes striking his legs. Jaune felt his foot hit the edge of the ice and he felt it growing cold. He glanced down and saw water at his feet, then he pushed back against Nika with his shield, catching her off guard and stopping the attack for a moment. He knelt down quickly and put the face of his shield in the water, dousing the fire. He brought his shield back up to block and he saw that Nika had _Light_ in the sheath again, the edges of it glowing yellow.

Nika quickly drew _Light_ and sliced out at Jaune, striking his shield fully. Jaune yelped as the electricity from the blade struck his wet shield, which sent a hard and painful jolt through his arm and body. Nika struck the shield again to the same result, causing high damage to Jaune's aura. Jaune let his shield fall for just a moment and _Light's_ tip slid past his shield, jabbing into his chestplate. The same thing happened, the shock coursed through his body for a moment, and Jaune fell backward into the freezing-cold water. He quickly regained his footing, half his body drenched, as Nika pointed _Light_ downward.

She grinned at him. "Checkmate." She said and stabbed it into the water, electrifying it and electrocuting Jaune.

She stopped after a few moments and Jaune's hair was standing on end. He was trembling as he stared at her in, well, _shock_. He fell face first into the water with a load groan, turning into a gurgle.

"That was a smart play by Nika an' Jaune's outta the match!" Smoke called, "He... should probably get outta the water."

Nika quickly stepped over and pulled him out of the water, taking him to the center platform. She took off from there toward Genesis and Pyrrha, the latter going into that state of mind that Auron had warned Genesis of. She was deflecting hits with her shield and dodging him as she jabbed her spear into him, doing a small but accumulative amount of damage to his aura. Nika saw that Genesis seemed to be missing more often than before, which made her push harder. She activated her semblance and summoned her aura blade over _Light_ and jumped in. Pyrrha caught sight of her in the corner of her eye and jumped up, backflipping over the attack.

Then, something went wrong.

As she landed, her heel fell into a gash in the ground that had been created and her ankle twisted, causing a cry of pain to erupt from her. Genesis actually _heard_ something snap thanks to his Faunus hearing and noticed her ankle bending at a bad angle, and he saw her fall to the ground. He was already swinging at her from even before she landed and he let go of _Standoff_ mid swing, sending it flying and skidding across the rocks.

"Shit, are you okay!?" Genesis asked and knelt next to her.

She immediately shook her head. "I-I don't think so." She said and looked at her ankle.

Genesis followed her gaze and he foot was set in an unnatural way, his eyes widening as he saw some blood leaking through the side of her boot. He looked up from her and put his arms above his head in an 'X', signaling for a medic.

"Oh no..." Epirus muttered into his microphone.

Smoke put a hand on his shoulder. "Get the cameras off o' this. That ankle is horrible to look at. It looks bad for Pyrrha here."

A few medics were soon out on the field and they knelt beside Pyrrha as Genesis and Nika moved away. Jaune had made his way over, still catching his breath from his fight with Nika.

"She can't continue the fight," One of the doctors said into an earpiece, "It's definitely a compound fracture."

"Seriously?" Smoke sighed, "We just got word that Pyrrha is unable to compete. The winners by forfeit are Genesis Galloway an' Nika Styles outta Atlas. This was a good fight. Shame to see it end like that." He said to stunned silence from the crowd.

The medics put Pyrrha onto a stretcher and started taking her out of the arena with Jaune right next to them. Then, a camera man and a reporter came out.

They quickly went over to the injured champion. "Miss Nikos, by injury, you have just been dealt your first ever loss. How do you-"

"Let them take her to the infirmary in peace!" Epirus bellowed into his microphone, his voice booming throughout the arena. He took his headset off and left the commentator's booth.

The overzealous arrivals were stunned by the outburst as Jaune spoke up. "Go, please!" He told the medics, "Get her some help!"

They pushed past the reporter and quickly made their way out of the arena. The reporter shook his head and went over to Genesis and Nika, who were recovering the weapons that were on the ground.

"How does it feel to be the ones that ended the _Invincible Girl's_ streak?"

Genesis snapped his gaze to him, anger in his eyes. "Let's get a few things straight. This was a bad accident. _We_ didn't beat her. She was beaten by horrible luck. Now get the hell out of our way so we can return our friend's weapons."


	57. Chapter 57: Intermission

**Chapter Fifty Seven**

 **Intermission**

"We took an x-ray and her ankle is broken in three places," A doctor said to Epirus, Helena, Pyrrha and her team, and Auron, "It's a compound fracture, meaning that a bone broke out of her skin. She'll need to have a bit of surgery to correct the damage. Given a few weeks, she will be back to fighting shape. Now, we'll be using a special type of _glue_ , you could call it. It will keep her bones together until they naturally heal and it will safely dissolve so we won't need to do another surgery."

"Damn it..." Auron sighed as he leaned back in a chair in the room Pyrrha was taken to in Haven's infirmary.

"You'll get to go against her next year, Auron," Nora assured him, equally as angry and sad, "Don't worry."

"That ain't what I'm thinkin' about, Nora," Auron said, "The goddamn media's gonna be all over Pyr."

"Not if I have a say in the matter," Epirus said, "As a Huntsman, I could ban them from setting foot on Haven's campus."

"I wouldn't go that far," Pyrrha said, looking at her left ankle, "But..."

"I don't want them anywhere near you," Helena said, holding her daughter's hand opposite of Jaune, who was mirroring her, "The parasites have no right to invade your space more than they already have."

"I agree with ya, Helena," Auron said, "If it wasn't for how it might come back to bite Shyla, then I'd knock out the first that tries to step through the door."

"I can handle that," Nora grinned wickedly, "I can break a few teeth so you don't have to worry over Shyla's pretty little head."

"Nora, don't do anything that could put you in a bad light either." Ren said softly, placing his hand over her arm.

"At least you have very loyal friends," Helena said to Pyrrha, "They'll make your recovery faster."

"If you all wouldn't mind, we need to prepare her for surgery as soon as possible," The doctor said to everyone, "It shouldn't take more than two hours. Three at the very most. We'll call for you when it's finished."

He ushered everyone out and thet all went to the waiting room, then Pyrrha was taken further into the infirmary. "Jaune, you alright? " Auron asked the blonde boy, "You ain't said much of anything."

Jaune sighed. "If I was better... I could've beat Nika. I made a mistake and let her get me in the water... If I beat her then I could've gone to help Pyrrha."

"Don't blame yourself, dear," Helena said to him, "It isn't anyone's fault. It was just a horrible accident."

"I'm gonna go get some food," Auron said to everyone, "Anyone want anything brought back?"

Everyone had only asked for something to drink and Auron left. Outside the infirmary, he met up with his team. "Care to help pack some drinks back?"

"Sure," Jace agreed and they all went toward the cafeteria, "How's Pyrrha?"

"Takin' it real calmly. How's Gen?"

"Not so much. He's pissed at himself for making all those slashes in the ground. He wants a winner."

"We all do, but it ain't changin' right now. And it ain't like it's his fault. That can happen to anyone.

"They always have next year to fight..." Alyss said, crossing her arms as she looked down, "Why didn't she want me to heal her ankle...? I feel so useless when I can help her easy."

"Didn't she say it was so she isn't accused of throwing the match?" Raine asked, "That's exactly what it would look like if she was walking around fine this soon after that happened. Right now, it's best if you didn't help her."

Alyss sighed. "I guess so..."

Jace put his arm around her shoulders. "She'll be fine, I'm sure. When is she supposed to recover?" He asked Auron.

"The doc said a couple weeks," Auron said, "She's gotta have surgery for it now. Hmm..." He thought something over in his head, "I need to talk to 'em later or tomorrow. I got an idea."

"Are you gonna make her some jerky to make her feel better?" Jace asked.

"Probably. I'll start on that later when I take Shy an' Amy back to the house."

"Where are they?" Raine asked.

"Waitin' at the cafeteria. I asked 'em to wait there until I knew what was goin' on with Pyr."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. It was almost time for the sun to go down , and as it was it already casted a golden-orange light over the school. Any other day, it would be something to make that day the best for a long while. With Pyrrha's injury fresh on everyone's mind from the match almost an hour before, that was far from anyone's opinion about the day.

At the cafeteria, they saw that Shyla and Amy were standing just outside the cafeteria, the former finishing up a conversation on her scroll. "...Yes sir. I'll tell him. Thank you again. Have a good day."

Auron and the others arrived and Shyla hugged him after putting her scroll up. "I'm sorry about what happened to Pyrrha, Aure."

Auron sighed and lightly rubbed her back. "It's alright, Shy. She'll get fixed up soon. I ain't too worried."

"It really sucks that that happened, though," Amy said, leaning against the wall, "But she's a Huntress and she's the _Invincible_ _Girl_. She'll be back on her feet in no time with no more worries."

"You shouldn't have any more worries either," Auron told her, "Our Kitty Cat here helped you out pretty well, right?"

Amy nodded. "And I seriously can't thank her enough," She stepped from the wall and hugged Alyss, "Seriously... Thank you so much for helping my back. I've been feeling so much better. What can I pay you back with, Alyss? I really want to."

Alyss shook her head. "I don't want to make people feel obligated to give me anything. It's payment enough that you're okay and you don't have to go through that therapy anymore."

"I'll find some way to pay you back. I don't know when or how, but I will."

"I can't stop you, but I'd just rather anyone not use their lien on me."

"Who was you talkin' to, Shy?" Auron asked his girlfriend a few moments into his friends' hug.

"My boss," Shyla answered, "I called him a few minutes ago. I told him that since that happened to Pyrrha, you aren't going to finals."

"Are you still getting that raise?" Jace asked her, "Because if not, then I can let-"

"It's fine. I'm still getting the raise," Shyla assured him, "My boss was telling me that and he told me to tell Auron not to worry about going to finals."

"Alright then. Good. To both things." Jace replied.

"Do you think they'd be mad enough to take that back if Auron knocks out a few cameramen?" Raine asked Shyla with a bit of humor.

"I don't know," Shyla said, "I'll need to ask my boss about that too."

"If it ain't me knockin' a few out, then it'll be Nora, Epirus, or Helena," Auron remarked, "I'll try to keep myself in check if they come runnin'. I ain't riskin' you losin' your pay or your job 'cause o' me."

"Umm, Jace?" Shyla noticed that Jace was staring intently at Amy and Alyss, who had not released their hug.

Jace snapped himself back to reality. "Huh? What?"

"You were kinda staring a hole through Alyss and Amy."

"Oh, sorry about that..." Jace said and looked down as the two in question separated, "I don't really know Amy that well and they've been hugging for awhile... I guess I got a little jealous because of how we're mated and Faunus are-"

"Hey hey hey, it's alright," Amy interrupted him, "It's fine. I just... I really can't thank her enough. I like hugging too. It makes me feel good."

Jace sighed. "Sorry. I know I can trust you, but... not at the level of everyone else yet."

"Well, I'll be looking to hopefully change that some day. If Shy gets a bigger place, I'll be moving in with her and then when all of you come to visit, we can hang out and do stuff. Maybe play some video games or board games."

"I think I might like the sound of that," Jace said, "If you're a hugger, then I want to be comfortable when you hug Alyss."

"Listen, we were gonna take some bottles o' water back to the others in the waitin' room," Auron said to the young women, "Pyr's bein' prepped for surgery now, which shouldn't take more than three hours from what the doc said. I'll take you both to the house after we take the water to 'em."

"Okay. We'll wait for you. See you in a bit, Aure." Shyla said and team JKDW went to retrieve the water.

They returned to the infirmary with the water soon after, handing the bottles off to everyone in the waiting room. Jaune had apparently went to take a shower, considering he smelled burned according to Nora, and he still needed to get his hair back to normal. Raine stayed behind to let Auron know when Pyrrha was out of surgery, Jace and Alyss went to go find Genesis, and Auron took Shyla and Amy to his house.

It didn't take long for the two cat Faunus to find Genesis. Jace only looked where he knew his brother always went when he was pissed off. They went to the combat building that was used for training against droids, not even needing to go inside to hear the sounds of heavy combat. Jace and Alyss went inside and saw Genesis slicing droids in half left and right, each time with a scream of rage.

They walked down and sat next to his teammates. "I haven't seen him like this since you pulled Jace's tail..." Liza said to Michael.

"Before that, he usually got mad like this at video games." Jace remarked.

"How long does it usually last?" Nika asked.

"A few days at this level. Right now, I think he's more mad than he's ever been."

"It's not his fault, though," Alyss said, "Accidents happen."

"Hey Gen!" Jace called to his brother, "How about you take a break so the mechanics can have an easier time!"

Genesis snapped his vision over to him, just realizing he and Alyss were there. He put his sword on his back and the rest of the attacking droids stopped, recognizing his hands were empty. Genesis went to a holo board and pressed a few times on the screen, then the droids deactivated.

Genesis sat down next to them all after taking _Standoff_ from his back and setting it to his side. "Any word on how she's doing?"

"Right now, probably in surgery," Jace answered him, "Raine's with her team and her parents to let Auron know when they're done and Auron went to take Shyla and Amy to his house."

"If she wanted me to, I would've already healed her ankle," Alyss sighed, "I can understand it would make it seem like she faked it if I healed her, but... I can't stand not helping someone that's hurt."

"I would go see how everyone is, but I doubt her parents would want to see me," Genesis muttered, "After all, we ended her streak. Her parents can't be happy about that."

"Don't start with that crap, Gen,"Jace said in exasperation, "They aren't like that. You heard how pissed her dad sounded when the reporter asked Pyrrha how she felt about losing. I doubt they would hold it against you."

"It probably wouldn't be good for you to go now," Michael said, "You're still pretty mad. It wouldn't really help them all calm down."

"Just go to your room and relax for the night, Gen," Jace said, putting his hand on Genesis' shoulder, "You need to get some rest. You fought a lot today."

"Including about an hour here..." Nika added with a sigh, "You _do_ need to rest. You need to get ready for finals tomorrow night in case you fight. You shouldn't wear yourself out."

Genesis let out an irritated huff of air. "You're probably right. You guys care to help me clean up here?"

"Go rest," Jace told him, "We can stay and clean up."

* * *

At Shyla's request, Auron stopped the truck on the side of the road. The sunset had come and it shined over the horizon beautifully, casting that orange light even more over the landscape than before. All three occupants got out of the truck and looked at it, and Shyla had decided to take a picture.

"This is really pretty," Shyla said, putting her scroll up, "It just sucks that it had to be today it was like this."

"It ain't all bad, if I'm bein' honest." Auron replied.

"How so?" Amy asked him, "Your friend got hurt pretty bad and you won't get to fight her in the finals. What's so good about that?"

"You ain't seein' it how I do," Auron told her, "Pyrrha's always been hounded by news people an' weapon companies on account o' all the times she won those tournaments in Sanctum. She lost, so given enough time, most o' that should hopefully stop for the most part."

"So... you're glad she got hurt?"

"Hell no. I'd rather she lose clean than lose by injury. I'm just sayin' that maybe it was best that she lost."

"Makes sense," Amy said, "What does Alyss like? I seriously want to at least get something for her."

Auron chuckled a small bit. "If you're so dead set on gettin' her somethin', make it simple. She'd probably like somethin' that helps symbolize her an' Jace's love."

Amy _hummed_ and took her scroll from the pocket of her shorts. "What would symbolize their love that isn't just a Mate's Mark...?" She asked herself.

Auron sighed and took one of his revolvers out of its holster, beginning to twirl it around his finger. "How's things been? Y'know, about your um... personal problems."

"Hmm? Oh... Things have actually been okay lately since Alyss did that for me," Amy answered him, "I've been calming down."

"She came to me a few times, but it wasn't as bad as before," Shyla added, "It's been... a month since she's been like that. She still comes over and stays a few days though."

"Kinda figured that," Auron grinned, "I'm glad things are lookin' up for ya, Amy."

"Yeah, me too... Finally," Amy smiled a bit, "I've been feeling more confident. Hey, you think Alyss would like this?" She asked and held the scroll up to Auron.

Auron looked at the picture she showed him. It was a black shirt with two light-purple designs of cats sitting bacl to back, their tails forming a heart. He shook his head. "Jace already got a shirt like that for her."

"Crap baskets!" Amy exclaimed and put her scroll up, "Need to look harder later. Say..." She bit her lip, "That guy that Jace fought earlier today... Is he single?"

"Tyr? As far as I know, yeah," Auron answered, grinning, "Interested?"

Amy nodded a bit. "What about the girl that usually hangs around him?"

"Same as Tyr unless somethin's changed in the last few days," Auron looked down at her, "Her too?"

"Yeah, both," Amy sighed and crossed her arms, "Do you think they would be interested in me?"

"I dunno. You could probably ask one of 'em out on a date or somethin'."

"Umm... Can you... ask them for me? Both of them?"

"Both?" Auron asked, "Like both at the same time on the same date?" Amy nodded, "I thought you were feelin' confident."

Amy gave a humorless laugh. "Not confident enough to ask two people I don't really know on a date."

Auron nodded. "How about I just set up a meetin' with you three? Ashe ain't much of a talker, so you might not get much outta her."

"I can... try to talk to them myself if you can convince them to meet me."

"We'll try for tomorrow. How's that sound?"

"G-good... good," Amy straightened her back and looked at the sunset, "It's just that I've only caught glimpses of them and they seem... like everything I'd want in a boyfriend or girlfriend. Tyr looks like a badass knight from those fantasies and he talks so... I can't even describe it. What little I've seen of Ashe, she looks really cute wearing that armor. She looks like a silent protector. Someone that could make me feel safe even if she's not with me..."

Auron shrugged and holstered his revolver. "I'll get 'em both to meet ya."

"Oh Amy!" Shyla smiled and went past Auron to hug her, "You're making so much progress! Before, you would hardly even talk about this stuff without degrading yourself. You can finally move forward with your life."

Amy hugged back, her eyes beginning to water. "Y-yeah... Finally. I can't thank Alyss or Auron enough..."

"Me?" Auron looked at her in surprise, "What did I do to help you?"

Amy looked up at him and smiled widely. "You asked my best friend for a dance."

* * *

"You said you had an idea you wanted to discuss with us..." Epirus said to Auron the next day. They were in the room with Pyrrha, Helena, Jaune, Alyss, Jace, and headmaster Lionheart.

"I suppose it has something to do with me?" Lionheart asked.

Auron nodded. "I want you to ban all media people from school grounds, if it ain't too much trouble."

Lionheart and Pyrrha's parents raised their eyebrows at the request. "We already decided against that, though," Epirus said, "It could make the school look bad."

"It would be worse if you let those people in an' they harass Pyrrha," Auron told him, "They don't need to stick their cameras in her face while she's recoverin'."

"I would have to talk with the police and make a public notice, not that I am agreeing to anything yet." Lionheart said.

Auron sighed. "Well, here's my plan. Pyrrha, both me an' Alyss is beggin' you to let her heal your ankle so you can walk. Let me talk," He said when he saw her mouth open to protest, "Listen, you can let her do that an' the media will be banned from campus so they won't see you walkin'. Nearly everyone in Beacon know's about her semblance, so they can all back you up if people start accusin' you o' throwin the match, an' there's a whole village o' people that know about her semblance that would be pretty vocal about that. You can walk around at least on school grounds so you ain't layin' in bed all day."

"I believe I like this plan," Helena murmured, "Pyrrha, you won't have to worry about being bothered by reporters if the headmaster agrees. You won't have to be in pain because of your ankle either."

"I..." Pyrrha hesitated, "I-I don't want to impose on you, Alyss..."

"Don't think that," Alyss told her, "You won't be imposing on anything. I want to help you and not feel useless."

"It will be done," Lionheart said suddenly, "I will ban any type of media from school grounds, especially the dorms and infirmary. I am not having them flock around my school just to annoy one or two of my guests. I'll leave you all now. Have a good day." He finished and left them.

"Mom... Dad..." Pyrrha looked down at the foot of her bed, "I'm sorry..."

"What do you have to feel sorry for, dear?" Helena asked softly.

"I made a mistake. I lost... in my birthplace..." Pyrrha replied sullenly, "I feel like I failed you both..."

"Honey, you didn't fail us," Helena assured her, "You couldn't fail us even if you lost fairly. You achieved your dream of winning the Vytal Tournament last year, and we are both so proud of you for it."

"If I am being honest, I always hated the attention you garnered," Epirus admitted, "I may have smiled and waved, but the invasion of privacy by the media made me angry. If it goes away because of this loss, then I would be happy."

"I'm glad you both are still proud of me." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"There's that smile I love." Jaune said, smiling back at her.

"What exactly happened?" Jace asked, "I saw you do what you usually do, but then that just happened so quick."

Pyrrha shook her head. "I have no idea. I've performed that dodge hundreds, if not thousands of times. I don't know what went wrong."

"Could be that your ankle just... gave out this time." Jace said.

"Genesis said your heel fell into one of the gashes in the ground," Alyss said, "And that your ankle just snapped."

"Really?" Pyrrha tilted her head, "Hmm. I suppose I should have watched where I was going," She said, "I suppose that if you truly want to, then you may heal my ankle, Alyss."

Alyss nodded and moved to the side of the bed. Helena gave over her chair to her and she sat down. "Alright. Try to relax, okay?"

"Jaune can just hold her hand, it'll be fine." Auron remarked, causing Pyrrha to laugh.

"Very true." She admitted, gripping the blonde boy's hand.

"I believe I am going to find something to eat," Helena said and walked to the door, "I haven't eaten since yesterday. Are you coming, dear?"

Epirus nodded. "I haven't eaten either. We'll return in a bit." He said and the two left.

Auron grew thoughtful as he looked at Pyrrha. "There's somethin' that you said that just... makes no sense to me."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked him.

"You said you shoulda been watchin' where you were goin', but... you _always_ watch where you go," Auron narrowed his eyes a bit, "You woulda known exactly where each one o' those little gashes were."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked, giving the barest hint of a smile, "You know how I am when I begin to really focus in a match. I only focused on dodging and blocking Genesis' sword."

"Are you sure about that?" Auron cocked an eyebrow, "I mean... there was a bunch o' slashes in the ground when we fought back in Sanctum an' this never happened. Did you..." He finally noticed the bit of a smile she had on her lips.

"Oh gods you actually threw the match."

"What?" Jace stared at him, then he stared at Pyrrha, "Did you seriously break your ankle on purpose!?" He whisper-yelled.

Pyrrha didn't reply as Jaune looked up at him. "I was against it, but it was the only believable way she could think of. It wasn't really acting on my part. I really wanted Pyrrha to get some help and those people that came in didn't help. Nika still beat me fairly, though."

"Do you know how bad Genesis feels?" Jace asked her, "I mean, I'm not mad that you decided to do something about all that attention, but Gen might be pissed."

"I _am_ kind of really freaking annoyed..."

Everyone jumped at the sound of Genesis' voice at the door. They looked and saw him leaning against the door frame with a neutral look on his face. "You're seriously telling me that you threw the match with me?"

Pyrrha sighed and nodded. "You deserved a better match, Genesis, and I'm sorry. I fought with all of my abilities and gave you everything I had. I only moved my foot a small bit so my heel would land in a gash wrong as I focused my aura to another area in my body. I'm sorry, but I am so damned tired of all the attention for being undefeated."

"At least now I really know that it wasn't my fault... If I get blamed, I don't know what I'll do."

"I will fight and say that it wasn't your fault at all." Pyrrha offered.

Genesis sighed. "I don't care about that. Just... promise me that we'll have a match someday. No bullshit like our match yesterday. Just me and you, no environments, no teammates. I want an _actual_ finish."

Pyrrha nodded. "When the tournament ends and when people believe I recovered. I'll set everything up and I'll give you that rematch. You have my word."

"Okay," Genesis replied, "I swear if any more reporters shove a microphone in my face, I'm knocking them the fuck out."

Pyrrha laughed. "That's exactly how I felt all the time."

"Everything good here?" Auron asked.

Pyrrha nodded. "It should be, now that Alyss is-"

"Finished." Alyss interrupted.

"How can you tell?" Jaune asked.

Alyss shrugged. "I can't explain it. It's like a pressure in my aura that tells me I'm not needed."

Pyrrha swung her legs off the bed and stood up, easily standing on her feet with no pain. "Thank you, Alyss. You are such a great person."

Alyss smiled. "I'm glad everyone thinks so," She yawned a bit, "I'm gonna go talk to a doctor and tell them about it, then I'm sure they'll release you."

"Alright then."

"Well, I'm gonna go," Auron said, "I got a meetin' to set up."

"A meeting?" Pyrrha echoed, "What do you mean?"

"That's kind of a private thing. I ain't talkin' it up in case it don't work out."

* * *

"Ah, hello Auron. Shyla," Tyr greeted the gunslinger and his girlfriend under Haven's tree, "What did you want to meet with us about? And who is this?"

"Tyr, Ashe, this is Amethyst Dryden," Auron introduced them to the shy woman, "She wanted to meet you both."

"Ah, hello then, Amethyst," Tyr bowed his head to her, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"P-please, j-just call me Amy," She insisted, smiling nervously, "N-nice to meet you both too."

"You look really tense," Ashe observed, "You okay?"

"She's really shy right now," Shyla said for her, "Alyss helped her with her back and she recently stopped with physical therapy, so she's trying to work her confidence up."

"I am glad you are recovering," Tyr said to Amy, "I hope it goes well for you."

"You wanna go ahead an' ask?" Auron asked Amy, "Get it outta the way?"

She nodded slowly, looking down with a blush on her face. "W-would you g-go on a date with m-me...?"

"You want me to take you on a date?" Tyr asked her.

Amy shook her head, opening her mouth to reply but her words failed her.

"So... you want me to go?" Ashe asked.

Amy shook her head again, multiple times, moving to walk away. "S-sorry t-to-"

"Oh no you don't," Shyla lightly grabbed her shoulders and turned her back around, "You can't back out now Amy."

Amy clenched her eyes shut as her cheeks further reddened. "I-I-I w-was asking... b-both of you..." She nearly squeaked.

"You want both of us to go on a date with you?" Tyr asked and she nodded shakily, "In the same moment?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Why?" Ashe asked, "You don't even know us."

"Y-you both seem like you would be able to... p-protect me..." Amy replied lowly, "I-I was shot in the back and I felt so helpless and horrible... Like no one would love me. I've k-kinda been watching you both... N-not like stalking or anything, b-but whenever I saw you around when I was with Shyla and Auron. I like Tyr's voice and he looks like a great guardian or a knight... And you... y-you would make me feel safe even if you weren't near me. Like a guardian angel..."

"You think of both of us like that?" Tyr asked.

Amy nodded. "P-plus... I think with all the armor and stuff Ashe wears and her hair how it is... I-I think she looks pretty cute..."

"Wh-what?" Ashe was caught off guard by that, immediately beginning to blush, "Y-you think I'm cute? Flat chest and all?"

"Th-the size of someone's boobs doesn't matter to me," Amy replied, "Besides, that's not the main reason I'm asking..."

Auron leaned down, putting his mouth next to Shyla's ear. "She's gettin' more confident," He whispered to her, "She ain't stutterin' much now."

Shyla nodded. "Yep. She just needed a push." She whispered back.

"I really believe that both of you can make me feel safe again..." Amy told the two Atlesians, "Can you... c-consider it?"

Ashe and Tyr looked at each other for a few moments, the former still with a blush on her face. "We will think about it," Tyr told her, "Could we trade numbers so we may give our answer later?"

Amy nodded and they gave each other their number. Tyr and Ashe took their leave and Auron, Shyla, and Amy took a seat on a bench under the tree.

Amy leaned her head back and looked up into the leaves. "Why does it feel like my chest is gonna explode?"

"Comin' down from all that nervousness, maybe." Auron grinned.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good reason."

"Hey, be happy!" Shyla cheered, grabbing her hand and squeezing a bit, "You asked them!"

Amy nodded. "Yep. I never asked what you guys thought of me wanting to be in a poly relationship."

"Ain't that what we got?" Auron asked, "It's only still open for you two, but still."

"Yeah, it's kinda the same thing," Shyla added, "It would be wrong for us to be against it."

"I guess so, yeah," Amy gave a loud sigh, "Now I have to wait for them to answer me. I fucking hate being anxious."

"Better to be a bit anxious than be what you were." Shyla said.

Amy shrugged. "True."


	58. Chapter 58: Last Brother Standing

**Chapter Fifty Eight**

 **Last Brother Standing**

"Welcome back to the Vytal Festival Tournament, ladies an' gentlemen!" Smoke cheered, his voice booming through the arena, "The sky's clear, the stars are out, an' it's time for the finals!"

The audience cheered thunderously, shaking the stands they sat in. "While Epirus is out to be with his daughter while she recovers, I got a special guest up here with me for the rest o' the fights. He's got some special connections with a few o' these kids. Right Haile?"

"I do, Smoke," Haile replied, "Hello everyone, I'm Haile Reznor. It's a pleasure to be commentating for the finals for the first time like Smoke here. Now, here's all the contestants that have made it this far..."

"From Haven and team HALE is Jin Elise. From Atlas and team Jasper is Penny Polendina. From Shade and team Sand is Syprus Kingston. From Beacon and team RWBY is Weiss Schnee. From Haven and team IRIS is Ray Valor. From Atlas and team GLSS is my oldest son, Genesis Galloway. From Beacon and team SLVR is my youngest son, Alex Reznor. And last, from Beacon and team JKDW is my second youngest son, Jace Reznor. We have three teams from Beacon, two from Haven, two from Atlas, and one from Shade this year."

"Oh well that's just great," Jace laughed, "Now I'm gonna be even more nervous since dad's commentating."

"How do you think Auron felt?" Genesis grinned.

"I think he didn't have to worry about finals since Pyrrha's doubles match," Alex replied, "So he probably wasn't that nervous. I'm freaking nervous."

"We all are." Jace said.

"Now, let's see what the first match is gonna bring us. Any two o' these students are gonna have a great fight. I got no doubts about that." Smoke said and the displays came up and cycled through the contestants.

The first display stopped and landed on Alex, making him tense up. "I seriously just had to be first?" He groaned.

"Cheer up, Alex," Genesis said with a grin, "I'm sure you'll do..." He stopped talking when the other display landed on himself, "Oh."

"What a start!" Smoke laughed, "Already, we got two o' Haile's boys goin' against each other."

"Looks like it," Haile replied, "If all the other students will make their way out of the arena, then we can start the finals with a fireworks show."

Jace was the last one to follow everyone out, staying behind to pull both of his brothers in a hug. "Good luck, guys. I want both of you to win, but... no offense, Alex, I just want Gen to win more."

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, you both have your competition to finish up. But I'll be damned if I'm going easy on you, Gen."

Genesis laughed and ruffled both his little brothers' hair. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

Jace ducked his head away from him and let them go. "Have fun. I'll be cheering."

He quickly walked from the arena and Genesis and Alex separated. Alex took _Celosia's_ hilt from his belt and attached it to the blade in the sheath on the underside of his left forearm. He pulled it out, sending aura through it, and set it ablaze as it extended to its full length to his side before he let it die out.

"Showoff." Genesis laughed, taking _Standoff_ from his back, "I can't do any fancy flourishy stuff like that with my sword."

Alex shrugged. "I had to do something with the dust in the hilt.

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just get ready."

"How's it feel watchin' your boys fightin' first thing, Haile?" Smoke asked his partner.

"It makes me proud to see how far they've come, even if I just met Alex and accepted him into our family last year," Haile said with a smile, "It looks like they're both ready. Good luck, kids."

The buzzer sounded and Genesis readied his blade, then he swung it and sent a slash of fire toward Alex. He jumped over it and sent his own two waves of fire, narrowly missing as Genesis jumped to the side to avoid them. Genesis ran at Alex as he landed back on the ground, bringing _Standoff_ down from above. Alex brought _Celosia_ up and let the greatsword grind down the length of it, then he turned at sliced at Genesis' side. The red-haired teen sent the pommel of _Standoff_ into Alex's chest and pushed him back a bit, giving him the room to swing his sword hard at him. Alex jumped back from it and twisted around, raising his leg and sending his aura through it, sending a ball of fire at Genesis. Genesis raised his hand and sent a torrent of fire with his semblance, blasting the fire back at Alex.

The fire struck Alex fully in the torso and he jumped through, slicing fast from side to side. Genesis blocked the slashes with _Standoff_ , holding it with the blade flat between them, then he counterattacked with a hard slash, sending Alex flying backward. He landed on his feet, leaning forward and planting a hand on the ground to keep balance. Genesis was close to him and he reared his leg back, catching it on fire with his aura. Genesis jumped forward and lifted _Standoff_ into the air, using his semblance to catch his blade on fire. Alex lept up and backflipped, kicking out with his fiery leg and foot while Genesis brought _Standoff_ down, both attacks leaving a blazing trail behind them. _Standoff_ struck Alex's stomach and chest as Alex's boot connected with Genesis' chin. Alex was spiked to the ground and Genesis had a lighter fall, but he barely missed landing on top of his head from nearly flipping backwards.

Smoke whistled as the two fighters jumped back to their feet, continuing their fight. "You weren't kiddin' when you said it would be a fireworks show." He said to Haile.

Haile laughed. "It wasn't a lie. I expected a lot of fire to be thrown around considering their fighting styles."

Genesis gathered fire in his fist, then he threw it toward Alex like a ball. Alex pulled out his triple-barreled shotgun and blasted all the bolt dust shells into the fireball, breaking it apart and sending it back at the sender in nearly a wall of fire and lighting. Alex watched it go until a bright flash shined on the other side of it, then he saw Genesis flying into the air. Alex activated his semblance again, this time growing the silver wings he had just discovered before the tournament. He flew up and caught Genesis by surprise, hitting him with a direct slash with _Celosia_. He struck three more times before Genesis fell back toward the ground.

Alex let his wings dissolve and fell to the ground, landing on his feet, dropping halfway to a crouch. Before he rose up fully, Genesis was right there in his face, grinning as Alex caught his breath. Genesis sent _Standoff_ into Alex with a fast strike. Alex was able to barely avoid it as he rolled under, coming to his feet and turning around to face Genesis. He brought his foot up and put _Celosia's_ hilt in his boot's heel as Genesis came at him again, cutting off an attack with a kick of his sword. From there, the two went into a frenzy against each other, each attack they made deflecting the other's before their blades struck again. Seconds ticked by as sparks flew in every direction and soon both blades were ablaze due to Genesis' semblance coating _Standoff_ in deep-red fire and Alex's aura going through his leg into _Celosia_ , giving the same color.

Genesis did something else as well. His strikes grew faster as he focused bolt dust through his arms, giving him a significant boost in speed. Even with a smaller weapon and using one of his stronger and faster limbs, added with using his semblance, Alex struggled to keep up with him. Genesis backed up, letting _Celosia_ graze his chest, and he lifted _Standoff_ up and pointed it to the ground. He sent his aura through his blade and sent it into the ground, using his semblance more and causing an explosion of orange fire with small slivers of blue in it. Alex flew backward and landed on his back, rolling through and standing on his left foot. He quickly took _Celosia_ out of his boot and brought it up to guard against the next strike, but it came to fast for him to block. Genesis struck Alex in the stomach, sending him sliding backward on his feet. Genesis ran forward and continued his fast-paced assault, keeping Alex from dodging or blocking. With one final hit, Alex fell to his knees as he stuck the tip of _Celosia_ into the ground.

"That was a pretty good back an' forth match, but Genesis got out with the win." Smoke called, signaling the end of the match as the crowd roared with cheers and applause.

"It was a great match," Haile agreed, smiling widely, "I'm glad I was asked to do this. Both of them did well."

"Damn it..." Alex sighed and sat back on his calves, "That was way too quick..."

"You still fought pretty good," Genesis offered, "I just hit harder."

Genesis raised _Standoff_ above his head and easily twirled the blade around a few times before putting it on his back. Alex cocked an eyebrow. "Who's doing fancy crap now?"

Genesis shrugged, offering his hand. "You know it was cool."

Alex let out a bark of laughter and took his hand, being helped to his feet. "It was pretty nice," He admitted and sheathed _Celosia_ , detaching the hilt and hooking the hilt onto his belt, "I would've liked to make it past the first match, but at least I made it this far. You and Jace just need to focus on making it far enough to fight each other now."

"Easier said than done." Genesis remarked.

"If you fight like you did with me, then you should be good. Now, I'm going to go lay down."

"Ladies an' gentlemen, that's it for the night," Smoke said to the audience, "Be safe gettin' to where you're stayin' while in Mistral, an' we'll see ya tomorrow night for round two o' the finals."

* * *

"Good fighting, guys!" Jace cheered as loud as he could to his brothers as their match ended, "That was awesome!"

"I didn't think you woulda screamed so loud for 'em both," Auron remarked with a grin, "'Bout as loud as me an' Nora cheered for Pyr last year."

"I had a lot to cheer for," Jace replied, "I have to be ready to fight Gen."

"It's not a guarantee that you'll fight him, though," Lilith said, "Not that I have doubts that you'll make it. As much as I hate the thought, you know anything can happen."

Jace nodded. "Don't worry, mom. I'm never forgetting that. Maybe we'll get lucky and we fight tomorrow night. I'm nervous about how I'll do. It's been two years since I've really fought with him."

"Wasn't that the point?" Raine asked.

Jace nodded. "Yeah, but it'll still be weird."

They all filed out of the stands and left the arena, walking through the hallways to the stairs to the commentator's booth. Alyss put her head on Jace's shoulder as they walked, lightly holding onto his arm. "I know a way to help you relax. We can't do it all day tomorrow, but we can a little bit before the next match."

"Ooh, I like the way you think." Jace grinned.

"What are you kittens talking about?" Shyla asked them, speaking up at Auron's side.

"I was wondering that as well," Lilith said, "I'm right here, you know."

"Oh gods, that's not what I mean!" Alyss exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment, "I meant I was gonna pet his ears for awhile!"

Lilith giggled. "It's so fun to still be able to tease you, Aly. I knew what you meant."

Alyss grumbled and let out an irritated sigh as the reddness in her cheeks died down. "You guys are mean."

"Hey, I seriously didn't know what you were talking about," Shyla said, "I don't hang out with you guys too much to know what your habits for relaxation are."

"It's usually work, go home, text Auron, sleep, and hang out with Auron when your off work days and his weekends line up," Jace said, looking at her with a grin, "That's how things go for you, right?"

Shyla laughed. "That's pretty much it. But hey, I'm hanging out with you now and now I really know you like petting each other's ears."

"Speaking of that, where's Amy?" Alyss asked.

"You wanna keep it a secret, still?" Auron asked Shyla.

"Well, not now since they actually went," Shyla replied, "She went on a date with Tyr and Ashe."

"Both of them?" Raine asked.

"Yeah. Both. She talked a lot about how they would make her feel safe. She just wants to try it out."

"I hope it goes well. I guess that's why Tyr said he wasn't gonna be here tonight." Jace said.

Everyone met up with Haile and Smoke, then they went outside to the airdocks to wait for everyone else and to meet the ones that were already out there. Most of them waited, but Jace and Alyss did what they always did and flew down themselves.

Alyss looked down and caught sight of their missing friends. "Hey, there's Tyr, Ashe, and Amy. I think they're waiting for everyone.

"I'm curious how their date went," Jace said, beginning to slow the flapping of his wings, "We'll talk to them for a bit, okay?"

"Okay. We'll go to our room later."

Jace slowly lowered them to the ground away from the airdocks. They landed and Jace deactivated his semblance, still keeping his arm around Alyss' waist for a few moments as he kissed the back and side of her neck, drawing a happy-sounding _hum_ from her. Alyss reached her hand up and cupped his cheek, leaning her head into him.

Jace pecked her on the cheek and they went to where the three were now sitting on a bench, conversing nervously with each other. Jace and Alyss waved as they looked over, each giving short waves in return.

"Who fought and who won?" Amy asked them.

"Gen fought Alex and won," Jace answered her, "Shyla and Auron told us that you all went on a date. Umm... I don't mean to pry, but did it go well?"

"I hope so..." Amy replied lowly, looking at the ground, "I hope I didn't bring the mood down..."

"You trusted us both to tell us what happened to you," Tyr told her, "You didn't do anything wrong. It was a pleasure to get to know you."

"Y-you too, Tyr..." Amy said, smiling nervously, "Learning about what happened to your hand just... makes you seem so much cooler to me. What did you think, Ashe?" She turned to the jade-haired apprentice, "D-did you enjoy yourself?"

Ashe sighed, shaking her head a bit. "It was... really weird, to be honest..."

Amy looked down. "O-oh... Sorry..."

"But..." Ashe gained a light-red tint to her cheeks, "If Tyr would want to, we could try again sometime soon when you're more comfortable around us. I want to at least give you a fair chance."

Amy's eyes widened, looking back up at Ashe with a toothy, almost childlike smile. "R-really? You'd wanna try again?"

"I am not opposed to it," Tyr said, "Tonight was rather... strange, considering we barely know each other at all. It may go better if we are all comfortable together."

Amy straightened up in her seat, beaming with happiness. "Thank you both for giving me a chance. This is... just the best I've felt for a long time."

Jace smiled and kissed Alyss on the cheek. "Good job, Kitten."

"I'm glad I met and helped you, Amy," Alyss said to the older teen, "I'm sure Shyla is really happy to see you on your feet like this."

"I can't say it enough, but thank you," Amy said, "I doubt I would've ever got this far if it wasn't for you."

"Yeah..." Jace grinned and squeezed her hand a bit, "She has that effect. I don't think I ever told you this, but back when I lost my arm, she made me feel normal for the first time in my life. She might not think she deserves to be called an angel, but she's definitely mine."

"Is that where that cute little bracelet comes from?"

Alyss shook her head. "No, I got this from a little girl in Calm. She made it for me. She was so sweet."

"What did you do for her to make it for you?"

"Well... first, I healed her arm. She broke it when she fell off a wagon. And then when we were there over summer break, I grew her brother's arm. He was born with no right arm."

"You can do that!?" Amy exclaimed in surprise, "Umm... Why haven't you grew Jace's arm or Tyr's hand back?"

"I need to remember that I always need to be careful," Jace said, "I'm not gonna ask her to grow it back and risk letting the same mistake happen and make her waste her energy again."

"I feel the same way about my hand," Tyr said, holding his prosthetic right hand in the air and clenching the fingers, " _I_ let this happen. I discovered my semblance and I couldn't control it, and it took my hand. I've accepted that and I can only make myself better from it. And thanks to Jace, I met my new prosthesis engineer and I have feeling in it once more. I am content to live with that."

"They both know that I'd try in a heartbeat," Alyss said, "If it wasn't for those reasons, I would feel pretty useless if they still didn't want me to help them."

Jace laughed. "If it wasn't for that reason, I would've had you try it before Hayley made my prosthetic."

"Once again, I feel the same way," Tyr added, looking up to see an airbus descending to the ground, "I will have to watch a video of their match."

"Umm..." Amy cleared her throat a bit, "We could just maybe hang out early tomorrow and watch it on my scroll, that way we can catch the next fight. Th-that's if you both want to, though."

Tyr nodded. "I think that would work well. What do you say, Ashe?"

Ashe nodded slowly. "We can do that. When do you usually get to the city?"

"Hey, we're gonna go to our room," Jace said to them, "We'll let you figure this out by yourselves. See you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye guys." Amy said to them.

* * *

The next few days held exciting fights between the rest of the finalists. Weiss and Jin Elise from team HALE fought, creating rainbows of colors with all the dust they used against each other. Weiss had been victorious against her. Genesis fought Syprus Kingston from team SNDE, dominating the boy in a near one-sided match. Jace fought Ray Valor from team IRIS, dealing with the boy's heavy armor and tower shield for a good while before he was able to get the win. Weiss and Penny had faced each other next. Weiss had used her semblance and summoned a huge glyph above Penny and rained ice shards on her. The Atlesian girl had deflected all that she could with her swords, but she had come out on the losing end of the match.

Then, it was just down to Jace, Genesis, and Weiss. Beacon and Atlas.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the tournament," Haile greeted the audience once more, "We're down to the final three. Jace Reznor, Genesis Galloway, and Weiss Schnee. For these last two matches, Epirus is back to see the outcome. First things first, how's Pyrrha?" Haile asked, "Is she doing okay?"

"She is, thank you for asking," Epirus answered him, "Her ankle is healing nicely. She is actually trying to get back to training. She is able to keep her weight off her bad ankle well enough, but she is only able to do push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups at the moment."

"That's real good to know," Smoke said, "I figured she wouldn't let her ankle keep her from keepin' shape. Now, I'm sure all these fine people all over the world are waitin' to see the action, so let's not keep 'em all waitin'."

Epirus nodded. "Right. I am sure all of us in this booth are excited as well. Let's see who will be fighting."

Jace took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the displays started cycling through the three students. "Luck, please be on our side."

Genesis stared intently at the screens, which seemed to cycle on forever. "Come on... Let us have this..."

"I am hurt that you don't want to face me," Weiss said with a faux, irritated huff, "You could at least act excited at the possibility. How rude."

Jace laughed a bit, keeping his eyes closed. "Sorry to disappoint you, Weiss. I would just really hate it if I fought you and lost right now."

Genesis reached over and shook his shoulder. "Look at that..."

Jace opened his eyes and looked up as Smoke spoke over the cheering of the crowd. "It looks like Genesis is fighting. Now, we just gotta see who he'll be goin' against."

"If it makes you feel any better, I would prefer if you two faced each other as well," Weiss admitted, "We've all heard Jace go on and on about how he couldn't wait for the tournament so he could face you. I have honestly been curious about how it would turn out as well, considering your only sparring match last year."

Genesis chuckled and shook his head, thinking back to it. "Think they'll try to put a time limit on us?"

"If this turns out like it did then, then I would hope so."

"Come on..." Jace muttered, his leg bouncing in anticipation, "Hurry up and land on me, please..."

After nearly thirty seconds more, the display slowed down and slowly went from Jace and Weiss' portraits. Jace watched with a silent gaze as it grew slower and slower.

"Well would you look at that," Smoke chuckled, "I guess we got the most excited guy in the booth with us right now. Right Haile?"

Haile smiled and nodded. "I can't tell you how excited I am to see this. This match will be between Genesis Galloway of Atlas and team GLSS and Jace Reznor of Beacon and team JKDW. Both are leaders of their own teams..."

Jace released a breath he had been holding and turned to face his brother. "Looks like this is it, Gen."

Genesis nodded and faced him as well. "Yeah... looks like it." He said, now feeling a huge amount of nervousness inside himself.

Weiss grinned a bit. "Good luck to the both of you. I will look forward to _beating_ the victor." She declared and left the arena, leaving the two facing off.

"She's confident, isn't she?" Genesis asked Jace with a short grin as the two separated to twenty feet between them.

"She has good reason to be," Jace replied, "She's like... second rank in sparring class now. She can keep using her glyphs a lot longer than what she could last year."

"I guess good luck to which one of us fights her."

"Do you have anything to say about this matchup, Haile?" Epirus asked the still smiling Huntsman.

Haile nodded. "I suppose I can give a bit of a history lesson about our family, if it won't bore anyone to death. Genesis and Jace are my adopted sons. I found them on the street in Atlas when they were children. They both stuck by each other's sides up until last year when Jace decided to go to Beacon. Genesis is two years older, but he held himself back to help Jace and stay even with him with his training. I can't stress it enough that they have _never_ beat each other when they sparred in the past. They agreed on going to different schools so they could train differently and see who can finally win. There isn't going to be a time limit for this match, so they'll finally have a winner just like we all will."

Jace and Genesis both smiled at hearing the short recollection of their lives. "I guess the world knows a bit about us now." Jace said.

Genesis nodded. "Yeah... Seems like it."

"This has to be an emotional moment for all three of you," Epirus said to Haile, "I've met both of these boys and I had no idea of any of what you told us all about their training. I believe it is time to begin the match."

The buzzer sounded and the two brothers mirrored each other, taking their swords from their backs. They stood apart from each other, leveling the tips of _Legacy_ and _Standoff_ even, stances matching. They ran at each other and swung their swords, colliding with a loud clang as they struck. Both of them came face to face and the realization set in on what was happening, each one grinning.

They freed their swords and Genesis swung _Standoff_ sideways. Jace sent _Legacy_ down to block it and Genesis readied another swing after _Standoff_ bounced off of it. He began to bring his sword up for an overhanded strike but Jace swung _Legacy_ , slicing across Genesis' stomach. He jumped back and Jace followed, sending _Legacy_ toward his side. Genesis blocked the strike and fell to the side, letting Jace go past him. He went to strike at his back but Jace quickly turned and blocked it, causing them both to come to a stalemate early in the match.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Genesis used his semblance, causing an explosion of fire to erupt around him to push Jace back. He dashed forward at Jace and jumped, raising _Standoff_ high into the air. Jace activated his semblance and blocked the strike, then he swatted Genesis away. He pushed his semblance further and grew his wings, then he flew forward and sent _Legacy_ toward Genesis' side. The red-haired Atlesian blocked the attack and was sent further away. As he flew backward, he sent multiple fireballs from his hand toward Jace, who flew after him and weaved past the fire. Jace twisted around in the air, swinging his sword with more momentum that knocked Genesis back further, who still blocked.

Genesis flew toward the edge of the ring and Jace flew faster. He caught up with him just in time to grab him before he flew out of bounds. "That's not how this is gonna go!" Jace called and flew Genesis back to the center, dropping him off and deactivating his semblance.

Genesis nodded and readied _Standoff_ again. "I would be _so_ freaking mad if it ended like that."

After a moment, they took relaxed stances and walked toward each other. When they met, Genesis raised his fist up into the air between them. "Good luck, Jace."

Jace nodded and they knocked their forearms together. "Remember, we have more people watching us than we think. Like Axel, Johnny, and June."

Genesis smiled. "And mom and dad..."

"Let's try to put on a good fight for them all."

"Right. Let's show them what we can do."

Jace glanced to the side and saw a camera drone a few feet away from them. "Maybe we should hurry up. I don't think people are watching to see us talk."

Genesis laughed and shook his head. "Definitely not. Let's go!"

They jumped back from each other, raising their swords once more, then dashed forward again. Jace stopped and stepped back, causing Genesis to swing and miss, expecting to clash again. Jace swung _Legacy_ from the left and actually connected against his brother's side. Genesis recovered from the heavy hit to his aura, planting his feet to the ground and lashing out hard and fast, returning the hit and knocking Jace's aura down to join his. Jace took the hit and held his blade flat between them, then he shoved Genesis back from him.

He brought _Legacy_ back and swung it up and around in an overhand arc, swinging it down hard as he activated his semblance again. Genesis blocked the strike, placing his forearm against _Standoff_ for support. Jace followed that strike and began turning in a pinwheel motion, driving the edge of _Legacy_ into _Standoff_ over and over, causing Genesis to grind backwards on his heels. Before Jace connected with the last hit, Genesis pushed against him and knocked him off balance, then he slashed out with _Standoff_ and struck him in the stomach, causing him to take a few steps back

"This is a real standoff, an' I didn't say that on account o' the name o' Genesis' sword," Smoke said as the two fighters began trading and blocking blows, each attack looking more savage than the last, "This an improvement from how they fought before, Haile?" He asked the man that still wore a smile on his face.

Haile nodded. "It's a huge improvement. They're actually landing hits on each other now. Training in two academies set them apart from each other. How they're moving is completely different to how they have when I watched them spar."

"You sound like you are very proud of them both," Epirus noted as Jace sent a slash of lighting at Genesis, who responded by sending a slash of fire, causing the two attacks to meet and dissipate, "When I met Jace, I learned of how he lost his arm to a Stalker on his first mission. He told me how his drive to never let it happen to the ones he loves is what keeps him moving forward," Epirus laughed a bit, "Well, that and his girlfriend."

" _Mate_ ," Haile corrected, wincing a bit when Genesis landed a hard hit to Jace's chest, "They're mated now. I'm proud to have the girl that keeps Jace's head straight be a part of my family."

If Jace wasn't completely focused on the fighting, then he would have smiled at what their father said. The the two struck with their weapons again, locking the two blades between them. In that stalemate, Genesis used his semblance and the area around them erupted in blue fire. Instead of flying away, Jace sent gravity dust through his body and weighed himself down, then immediately stopped when most of the fire disappeared.

Some of it stayed, coating _Standoff_ and Genesis' arms in the blue fire, small licks of flame dripping from them and sticking to the ground.

They freed their blades and struck again, harder this time, sending more of the fire around them. Jace sent burn dust along _Legacy's_ edge with his aura, setting it on fire to a surprising result. Instead of deep-orange, the dust reacted to the fire from Genesis and coated the blade with blue flames to mirror the elder brother.

Sparks flew high as steel met steel, blue fire flashing from each heavy strike. Jace began moving faster and faster, making use of the dust that was put into him as a child as he sent gravity dust through his arms and sword, making them feather-light. Genesis noticed it and mirrored him, but sending bolt dust through his arms. Every half second, sometimes even sooner, showers of blue and orange sparks splashed onto the ground and onto each fighter. A few stray sparks struck Jace's right eye, causing him to yell and strike harder against _Standoff_ , knocking Genesis away from him, then the older teen jumped back at him and continued the attack.

"You good?" Genesis asked, noticing that Jace kept his eye closed.

"Spark really surprised me," Jace replied through gritted teeth, blocking another strike, "I'm fine. Just keep fighting."

"You got it."

Each attack continuously left trails of blue fire as Jace and Genesis battled. They circled each other multiple times throughout the struggle, nearly making the trails circle all the way around them. Their lighting-fast attacks lasted for well into a minute, close to two. Soon, Genesis started losing steam and his attacks slowed, beginning to breathe harder and harder while Jace kept his speed up. Genesis blocked less and less of _Legacy's_ edge and the fire on his arms began flickering and fading out while the fire on his sword died completely. Jace stepped back a bit and readied his sword, then he swung it up and around in an overhanded arc, sending it crashing down against _Standoff_. Genesis' arms gave out on him as the flames died out, and _Legacy_ knocked _Standoff_ out of the way and sent Genesis down to the ground.

"Our last match us set, everyone!" Smoke called as the buzzer sounded to thunderous cheers, with a good amount of booing, from the crowd, "Tomorrow night it's gonna be Jace Reznor fightin' Weiss Schnee. I'm sure if he didn't already bolt out the door, then Haile woulda been sayin' this."

Jace and Genesis heard all the sounds around them, focusing their hearing on one specific part of the crowd. They heard Alyss and Nika cheering loudly, accompanied by all their other friends and family. Jace took _Legacy_ and stabbed the tip into the ground, then he took a seat and leaned his back to the side of it, drawing a knee up and setting his forearm over it.

"We finally got a winner..." Jace said, trying to open his eye but failing, just leaving it closed.

Genesis raised himself to a sitting position and sighed. "You were the better fighter, man. It's... really good to finally get an answer to that."

"I trained... so damn much,"Jace breathed out and chuckled, "I'm glad I did. I think I feel a lot of weight lifting off my shoulders now that I beat you."

"Oh shit," Genesis said, looking up to their aura displays, "You had almost twenty percent more aura than me at the end. I... can only imagine all the booing I hear is from whoever doesn't like Faunus. Freakin' idiots can't enjoy a good fight without being racist."

Jace let out a loud laugh. "I don't care! They don't matter to me because I finally beat you!"

"Jace!"

Jace's vision snapped over and he saw Alyss running toward him. She dropped down into him and hugged him tightly. "Congratulations, Kitten."

Jace laughed and returned the hug, rubbing her back. "You're acting like I won the whole tournament, Aly."

"I just know that you've been waiting so long for this and you finally fought and beat Gen. Now, be still."

Alyss softly placed her hand over his right eye, using her semblance as it glowed purple for a few moments. "How did you know it was hurt?"

Alyss smiled a bit. "Because you wouldn't have had your eye closed otherwise. Plus, I saw sparks go into it and I heard what you both said. Better?" She asked and took her hand from his eye.

Jace nodded, reaching a hand up to place behind her head. "I can see you more, so yeah. A lot better."

Genesis groaned. "Jace, you just kicked my ass. _Please_ don't be so damn sappy."

"Deal with it." Jace told him and pulled Alyss down, giving her a deep and passionate kiss.

Alyss returned the kiss eagerly for a few moments, then she helped Jace to his feet. He walked over and extended his hand to Genesis, who took it and Jace lifted him up off the ground. They shared a hug for a few moments as cheering and booing still sounded through the arena. They each felt a hand on their shoulders and broke the hug, coming face to face with their father.

"Hey dad." Genesis greeted him.

"Did we put on a good show?" Jace asked.

Haile nodded and put his arms around them both, bringing them both in for a strong hug. "I'm so proud to see how far you both have come. That match made me feel so damn proud to be your father and it makes me so happy that I found both of you. I love you both so much."

"I love you too, dad." Jace said.

"So do I..." Genesis said and both he and Jace put their arms around him, "Thank you for saving us."

"Alyss, get over here," Haile requested and she stepped over. He put his arm around her and pulled her in as well. "You keep Jace safe, okay? Keep him happy like you have been. If Nika came jumping over the barricade like you, I'd tell her to do the same for Gen."

Alyss nodded a few times. "I'll do my very best, dad. I promise."

"I don't doubt it," Haile said, "Jace, however tomorrow night goes, just know that you'll still make me proud. Now, maybe we should go. I'm sure both of you want to relax."

"I know _I_ do," Genesis said, "I'll just lay down with Nika and go to sleep."

"And I'm just gonna lay down and let Alyss scritch my ears." Jace grinned.

Haile laughed. "Of course you will."

"Ladies and gentlemen, that is it for the night," Epirus said to the audience, "We look forward to tomorrow night when we decide who will lead their team to victory. Jace and team JKDW, or Weiss and RWBY. And this year, it will definitely once again be a student from Beacon academy. Everyone stay safe, and see you tomorrow night."


	59. Chapter 59: Victory

**Chapter Fifty Nine**

 **Victory**

Jace sent gravity dust through his arms and weapon, making himself able to swing _Legacy_ around to deflect the shower of ice shards that came down on him. It stopped after a few moments and Jace looked back to Weiss, who had begun to summon multiple glyphs all around him. Then, she summoned one behind her and jumped against it to launch herself toward him. She moved around like a lightning bolt, striking Jace with every pass as she bounced from glyph to glyph, leaving him unable to block from so many directions. With one final strike, Weiss sent Jace backwards onto the ground, sending his sword from his grasp as she landed on her feet.

"Here is your winner, Weiss Schnee of team RWBY and Beacon!" Haile called, signaling the end of the tournament as the crowd was nearly torn between cheering and booing, "Give it up for the new Vytal Festival Champions!"

Jace let out a huff of air as he rose to his knees. "If I could've got out of your glyph storm or whatever, I would've had you beat."

"Perhaps, but it's finished." Weiss smirked.

Jace nodded. "Yeah. Good match, Weiss."

Weiss nodded. "It was."

Weiss went over to _Legacy_ as she put _Myrtenaster_ on her hip. She picked _Legacy_ up, almost straining as she brought it over to Jace. "Your weapon is ungodly heavy."

Jace laughed and took it from her as he stood up, putting it on his back. "It's an artillery claymore. I had to make it heavy."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Of course you did."

Jace looked all around him at the crowd, hearing the mixed sounds from them all. "I can only imagine a lot of the ones booing are Faunus that don't know anything about you."

Weiss nodded in resignation and sighed. "Given my name, it doesn't surprise me." She said quietly enough to where the camera drones couldn't hear her.

"Well..." Jace extended his hand, "Maybe seeing a Faunus actually wanting to shake your hand will change something." He said, matching the tone.

Weiss hesitated for a short moment before she put her hand in his, shaking it firmly. Slowly, some of the booing turned to cheers. "One day, I will fix the reputation of my name. For now-"

Weiss was bowled over as Ruby crashed into her, sending them both to the ground and leaving Jace's hand in the air. "Weiss, that was awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, "You won it for us!"

"Ruby, off!" Weiss yelled, making Ruby jump off of her, "I just had an exhausting match with a great fighter. You could at least-"

Weiss was cut off as Yang ran in, wrapping her arms around her and lifting her up. "That's my Snow Angel!" Yang exclaimed and kissed her hard on the lips.

Weiss almost melted into it, but she pushed Yang off of her, blushing deeply. "Yang! My father is watching this!" She whisper-yelled.

"So?" Yang laughed, "You're eighteen now, Weiss. He doesn't control you as much as you think now. He sure as hell don't control who you love."

Jace put his hand on Weiss' shoulder. "It was awesome to fight you, Weiss. I'm gonna go now. This is your moment."

Jace took his hand from her and walked toward the exit, passing Blake, standing tall even though he lost the tournament. In the end, that didn't matter to him. He had won in his own way when he beat Genesis, giving them both a clear winner in their rivalry. Jace looked back and saw that all of team RWBY had embraced in a hug in the middle of the arena. He smiled and went through the door, knowing what was about to happen from the feeling in his shoulder. Alyss jumped into his arms and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, immediately giving him a long kiss. Jace held her up into the air and returned the kiss, closing his eyes.

Their lips separated and Alyss put her head against his neck. "I'm sorry you didn't win the tournament, Jace."

"It's fine. There's always next year," Jace replied, pressing his head against hers, "It wasn't even my main goal. I was just really trying to win-"

"I know, sweetie," Alyss giggled, "You just really wanted to fight Gen."

Jace nodded. "At least now you all don't have to hear me go on and on about wanting to fight him. I think I got that out of my system pretty well."

"Good. Now, let's go back to our room," Alyss _purred_ into his ear, "We have it to ourselves tonight and I want to congratulate you for winning against Gen and almost winning our team the tournament."

"Ooh, what kind of congratulatory gift am I getting?"

"Anything you want."

* * *

That night was long and very enjoyable for both cat Faunus, each one doing what their urges demanded with each other as they scratched, clawed, and bit into each other's skin. The morning came and their skin had been marred with the evidence of their night's activities and they didn't care in the slightest, believing it all to be even more of a sign of how much trust and love they have for each other. It wasn't as if they could help it all that much, considering those small animalistic urges that kicked in most of the time, taking control.

"You got me really good," Jace said, trailing his fingers down the five long, wide, and deeply-red scratches going from the top of his chest down to his belly button, "It's kinda irritating to touch... but I like it."

Alyss smiled and traced her finger over the ones on his arm. "Looks about the same there too... You scratched and bit me a few good times too. My boob is pretty sore."

Jace looked down at her right breast, seeing a large bite mark on the inside of it next to her nipple. "Sorry," Jace said apologized, "Wanna see if kissing it will make it better?"

Alyss giggled. "If you want."

Jace leaned his head down and softly pressed his lips to the spot, drawing a light _moan_ from his mate. Jace placed more kisses on the bite mark as he brought a hand up to cup her cheek. He lifted his head up after a few moments and grinned.

"Is it better?" He asked her, tilting his head a bit.

Alyss nodded. "Feels like it," She said and brought her hand up to place over his, "You should maybe keep doing it to make sure though."

Jace nodded and obliged, covering the bite mark with kisses. Alyss placed her other hand on the back of his head and held him there for a few moments, making him lightly suck on the area

"You know, we've been scratching and biting harder lately," Jace said after Alyss let go of him, letting him pull his head back, "Not that I mind it on me. Just let me know if it's too much-"

Alyss placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "No. It's not too much. I love it. I don't heal these scratches and bite marks because I love getting them and showing how much trust I have in you. Well, the ones on my arms anyway."

"I love showing them too," Jace said and put his head in the crook of her neck, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him, "It's awesome."

"I really think I put them so deeply into you is because of how great you are in bed now."

"I'm glad you think so," Jace grinned, "I think it's more of my Faunus instincts coming out to make it more enjoyable for you. I think you've gotten a lot better since that first night too."

Alyss _hummed_ at hearing that. "I think it might be the same for me, wanting to make it more enjoyable for you too. It's good that our instincts are on the same page."

Jace laughed. "It really is. So..." Jace reached his hand down and lightly squeezed her backside, "What do you wanna do today?"

Alyss squirmed in delight at the touch. "Hmm... Cuddle and listen to music?"

"That works. Can we stay like this for awhile longer?"

"Of course we can. We have to get some food in a little bit though."

* * *

"You're really trying to make me not care that I lost in that first match, aren't you?" Alex asked with a grin as his lips separated from Aulin's.

Aulin shrugged, keeping him pinned down onto their bed in their dorm. "You need to not be so hard on yourself. Genesis won, big deal. We made it to the finals and you had a damn good match, even if it was short."

Alex sighed. "I just wish I would've put up more of a fight. I really don't think-mmph!"

Aulin pressed her lips hard against his, silencing him. She opened her mouth and slid her tongue past his lips, circling his own tongue multiple times before pulling away. "Stop it, Alex. Seriously. You did great. I know it annoys the fuck out of you that you lost so soon, but just use that and get better so it doesn't happen again. Do what Jace did and train almost nonstop until the next tournament. I guarantee the same thing won't happen again. Now quit moping about it and let's go get some breakfast."

Alex sighed again, but it held no annoyance in anything as he smiled up at his girlfriend. "I guess you're right. We have two more years, so I have enough time. Now, get off of me so I can get up."

Aulin raised an eyebrow. "What's the magic word?"

Alex rolled his eyes, reaching up to grab her arms. He pulled her to the side and onto the bed, then he was on top of her. He leaned down and returned the kiss from a few moments before, which was quickly returned as Aulin pressed her lips more into his.

Alex pulled back and grinned. "You're pretty awesome, y'know?"

Aulin nodded. "Of course I know that. You keep reminding me."

Alex stepped off of her and stood from the bed. Aulin followed and they left the room, walking hand in hand down the hall. They hoped the day would be relatively calm, which was a high hope considering the school was fresh off of the final match of the tournament. And the thought fresh on a lot of peoples' minds was that a Schnee had willingly shook hands with and showed respect to a Faunus.

"I can't wait to go out on the seas with you, Bell, and Inu," Aulin said as they walked outside and toward the cafeteria, "It really sounds awesome and fun. Being with all of you, plus Barrett if he wants to join, is gonna just be great."

"Yeah, it will be," Alex agreed, "I can't wait to be fighting stuff like Sea Dragons and Krooks and Wretches. And I can't wait to see new types of aquatic Grimm with you. You think they'll be a huge Grimm shark?" He asked with a grin.

"Or a Grimm whale or squid or clownfish."

"Clownfish?" Alex laughed, "What the hell would a Grimm clownfish even look like?"

Aulin shrugged and giggled a bit. "Kinda cute, maybe. I'd swim with a bunch of them."

"They'd probably have really sharp teeth like all the other Grimm, you know."

"True. Probably like piranhas or something."

"Probably worse. Like a mix between piranhas and clownfish and other stuff. They'd probably be bigger and have wider mouths to actually do damage."

"I'm glad not a lot of people are dumb enough to go in open water," Aulin clasped her hands behind her head and relaxed more than she was, "But someone needs to so we can learn more about them."

They made it to the cafeteria and went inside. There was hardly anyone in there except for a few students and the rest of their team. Bell and Inuvali were silently eating their breakfast and Alex and Aulin went to retrieve a couple of plates for themselves, filling them with eggs and bacon.

"Good morning." Bell greeted them as they sat down.

"Mornin', beautiful people," Aulin greeted back, "How long have you two been outta the room? We woke up like an hour ago and you weren't there."

"We sat under the tree for awhile before we came for breakfast," Inuvali answered, "We talked about how we'll be getting a cake to Hibana tomorrow. Vanille loves ice cream, especially if it's made with sea salt. I was thinking that Auron could make a vanilla ice cream cake for her, but I don't want everyone to have to keep it cold for so long. Plus, sea salt ice cream is rare to find outside of Menagerie."

"I wonder if Ghira would let Auron use his kitchen." Alex mused.

"The chieftan of Menagerie letting a group of people into his home just to let us make a cake?" Inuvali laughed, "I don't think that will work out too well."

"Well why not?" Aulin asked, "We met him and he seems like a nice guy."

"He may be, but would he really let Auron into his home to make a cake?" Bell asked.

"He seems to follow what his mate tells him," Alex remarked, "He gave Weiss a chance when they met in Patch because Kali did. I think if we tell Kali what it's for, then she might get Ghira to let us use their kitchen."

"I would hope so," Inuvali said, "Who all is even going? I know we are and Jace and the others are, but who else?"

"Let's see..." Aulin thought for a few moments as she ate a bite of the eggs, "There's Shyla and Amy, then I think Lilith and Haile are going... Oh, and Genesis and Nika. I don't know about Michael and Liza."

"Vanille is going to have so much hair to braid." Bell giggled.

"She'll probably love Alyss' hair," Aulin grinned, "I wonder what everyone got her. I can't wait to see the look on her face when all of us show up at the door."

"I saw Jace's gift for her," Inuvali chuckled and took a drink of his water, "I think he really wants to make it up to her that they didn't go since he was the one that wanted to go on a different mission. Vanille is going to love it."

"I got her a little statue thingy," Aulin said, "It's one of those snake-bodied dragons and it's mostly green with more of a yellow underbelly. It's winking and holding up two of its fingers in a peace sign."

"You didn't have to get her something too." Inuvali told her.

Aulin shrugged. "Maybe not, but I felt bad for not getting her a gift in the first place."

"I got her a little painting," Alex said, "I went to the same place as Aulin. It has two really colorful snake-bodied dragons sleeping in a meadow. There were other paintings there, but that one was the cutest and it wasn't... _bloody_."

"I do not imagine something bloody would go too well with Gracia or Fenn," Bell said after sipping on her water, "I bought an adorable little jacket. It is green with yellow edges. There are little white outlines of dragons across the breast of it and it has a dragon tail to match hers. Also, the hood is in the shape of a dragon's head. It is really fuzzy as well."

Inuvali laughed. "They all sound great. I'm sure Vanille will love them all."

* * *

"It was the funnest thing ever to be able to commentate for all o' that," Smoke said with a wide grin at the dinner table during breakfast in his home, "I didn't expect Leo to ask me, but I'm real glad he did."

"You've been acting as the assistant combat instructor. Of course he would ask you in place of professor Quill," Kathy said, "I'm glad you didn't have any more slip-ups like the first match."

"I'm sorry, dear," Smoke chuckled, "It was just real surprisin' that Auron took care o' that kid so fast when they went into the jungle."

"I was a bit surprised I dealt with 'im that quick myself," Auron said after finishing with his plate of food, "I guess my semblance really surprised 'im."

"I don't know about anyone else, but I was completely blown away by how Raine dealt with what's-his-name," Amy said, "I've heard rumors about how good Rangers are, but good lord! I've never seen it for myself!"

"I feel the same way," Shyla said with a grin, "I never knew Raine was capable of that. As soon as she got him in the forest... it was just awesome."

"She let 'im push her back," Smoke said, "I got no doubts that she coulda taken 'im out without goin' in that jungle, but that made it more excitin'."

"I think Raine was toyin' with 'im after what he did last year," Auron laughed, "I wish I woulda been the one to fight 'im, but I was already gettin' punched in the side by uh... I forget his name."

"Is Pyrrha still acting hurt?" Kathy asked.

Auron shrugged. "More or less. She uses a pair o' crutches to help sell it an' she does keep trainin' like Epirus said. I'm glad no reporters or whatever have been able to get in."

"I think they know better than to trespass in a school filled with people with super powers." Shyla snickered.

"I hope the recognition goes down for her," Kathy said, "No one should have to deal with so much of that at her age."

"I feel bad for Genesis," Amy said, "I mean, a lot of people are probably gonna say that he was the one that beat her."

"He'll knock the tar outta anyone that says it to his face," Auron laughed, "At least he don't have to worry about his girlfriend's job if he did it."

Shyla laughed. "I'm sure I could explain it to my bosses if it happened. You gonna keep that coat?"

Auron nodded. "I figure I can keep givin' free advertisin' out on the streets an' in Menagerie tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you was goin' there," Smoke said, "Ain't you goin' for a kid's birthday?"

Auron nodded again, grinning. "Yeah, we're basically havin' another one for Inu's lil' sister 'cause o' how we missed it before. We all got her some gifts an' I think Inu wants me to make a cake."

"Oh, what kind?" Kathy asked.

"Sea salt vanilla ice cream."

"We're going too." Kathy declared with a grin.

"We are?" Smoke asked.

Kathy nodded. "It's been a long time since I've made a cake and I want to help with this one and decorate it like I did for Gail's wedding cake."

"I ain't gonna complain about a little bit o' help," Auron remarked, then he turned to Shyla and Amy, "You two about ready to go?"

Shyla nodded as she finished off her plate. "Yeah. The food was awesome like always, Kathy."

"It was," Amy agreed, "Thanks for keeping us here."

"It's no trouble, girls," Kathy smiled, "It's nice to have new people to talk to. You all have a good day."

"I'm sure Amy will," Auron said as the three stood up, "You got another date with Tyr an' Ashe, don't you?" He asked Amy.

She nodded. "I'm really glad they're giving me a chance. I hope something comes out of it."

"Have some faith that it will," Kathy advised her, "Don't believe that it won't work. Anything is possible."

Amy smiled. "Thanks, Kathy. I'll do my best to stay positive."

"Anyone wanna help put the jerky in the dehydrator before we go?" Auron asked.

"I can," Shyla volunteered, "Do I get more than the others?"

"I'll help too if that's the case." Amy volunteered with a grin.

"No one's gettin' this except Inu's sister," Auron told her, offering a small shrug and a grin, "You'll have to wait for the next big batch."

"It's a lot of it, though," Amy said, "I can't imagine she's gonna eat three dehydrators worth of jerky."

"How often do you think we'll be goin' to Hibana?" Auron asked her.

Amy opened her mouth to reply, but shut it. "Good point. Is some gonna be for their parents too?"

Auron nodded. "It's gonna be a good amount."

"He always does that when he's goin' to meet new people now apparently." Smoke remarked.

"They can all thank mom for teachin' me." Auron said.

"Thank you, Kathy." Shyla and Amy said to the aging woman, who chuckled in return.

"You're all very welcome." She smiled.

Auron led the young women into the kitchen and they put the first batch of jerky in the dehydrator. With one person on one to two racks, they were finished in no time at all and left after Auron asked his mother to do the rest later. He led them out of the house and to his truck, hit with the cold of winter. They entered and Auron started it and drove from the house. It was silent for a few moments as they went through the forest, passing the trees and bushes. Auron glanced over to the side of the road and his eyes widened a bit in surprise. He pulled the truck over and put it in park.

"What are you doing?" Shyla asked him.

Auron reached over and opened the glove box. He dug around in it for a moment before pulling out a small plastic bag. "Sit tight. I'll be back in a minute."

He left the truck running as he got out, walking past it to a small bush with multiple dark-purple berries around it. It was surprising that they were there considering how late into winter it was, but Anima did seem to keep warmer than Vale when the cold came around. Auron plucked one of them from the bush and stuck it in his mouth and chewed, then he pulled out the stem when he was finished.

"Hell yeah! Thanks, Lady Luck." He said to himself and began filling the bag with the berries.

After a few moments, the bag was full and he closed it. He quickly walked over and sat back down in the driver's seat, shutting the door. He handed the bag to Shyla and began driving again.

"Sooo... What are these?" Shyla asked.

"Blackberries," Auron replied, "I didn't think I'd see any this year, but I guess these was late bloomers. Try one an' don't swallow the stem."

Shyla opened the bag up and took one of the squishy berries out, plopping it into her mouth. "Hey, I wanna try one too!" Amy exclaimed.

"Here," Shyla said, reaching the bag back to her, "These are kinda tasty. I've never had one before."

"Oh wow!" Amy squealed after trying one, "This is awesome! How does anyone know you can eat these!?"

Auron laughed. "Way back when, it was probably trial an' a whole lotta error. You city girls don't know what you're missin' half the time. I've eaten blackberries an' wild tomatoes an' a few other things too. Best things is definitely the berries."

"Are you gonna share these with everyone?" Shyla asked.

"Hell no," Auron laughed, "I might let 'em try some, but they're mine. They still got jerky from a few days ago."

"Are you gonna share some with me at least?"

"Yep. You get a special pass."

"Cool. Thanks, Aure."

* * *

"...It wasn't _that_ impressive, " Raine said bashfully, "I just did what I was trained to do. Attack from stealth and keep quiet."

Vivi smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "You did better than this one has ever done in the tournaments. She always went all out, throwing stealth out the window even if one of the environments was a forest. You showed the full capabilities of a Ranger. You never gave Riley a chance to retaliate once you started fighting back. It was the highlight of the whole tournament for me to see you fight like that."

Raine smiled at the words and pressed her head against Vivi's bare chest. "I'm happy you liked my performance. How was last night's performance, though?"

Vivi chuckled and reached around under the covers of the hotel room's bed, placing a hand on Raine's rear. "It was even better. My thighs are sore from all of your biting and I'm sure my ass has a lot of scratches."

"I love your thighs," Raine murmured into her chest, "I love them so much that I can hardly keep myself under control most of the time. It just all comes out with my urges whenever we're together like this. Your thighs, your butt, your boobs..." Raine lightly sank her teeth into her left breast, drawing a hitched breath and a deep _purr_ from the older Ranger, "It's all awesome."

"Hmm... You never seem to leave anything on my face," Vivi tilted her head a bit, one cat ear standing up straight and the other flattened out to the side in curiosity, "Does that mean my face is less attractive than those things?"

Raine looked up at her and shook her head, then she crawled up on top of her and kissed her. "It's just way too nice to do anything to except kiss. Maybe nibble on your lips a bit too." She said and kissed her again, lightly biting on Vivi's bottom lip.

Vivi laughed, pulling Raine close and rubbing her face against her cheek. "You know how to make this one feel special, Raine. No one has ever made her feel quite like a kitten like you have except mom."

"Think I could meet her when we go to Menagerie?"

Vivi nodded. "My house is actually still her property and it's kind of right next to hers. She had it built for me to have so I could live alone when I was there. I've only been in it... actually one time since she bought it to move my things in from her house."

"Only one time?" Raine asked, "Does she keep food in it or anything?"

"I don't think so. She knew I wouldn't be there much at all after I graduated Beacon, so it would be a waste to keep stocking it with food."

"Yeah, that's true. You wanna go see what the others are up to? As much as I like the pillows, I don't want to just lay here all day."

Vivi groaned and rolled over with Raine on top of her. She ended up being the one on top and was content to stay there, laying the side of her head against the top of Raine's chest.

"This one really only wants to lay here with you." She said, keeping Raine pinned there.

"Vivi, come on," Raine laughed and put her hands on the cat Faunus' shoulders, "I need to get my things together for tomorrow. If I rush in the morning I'm gonna forget something."

" _Hmm_..." Vivi _hummed_ and pulled herself tighter to her, beginning to _purr_ loudly as she rubbed her head back and forth against the smaller teen's chest.

Raine shivered a bit as Vivi's hair rubbed against her nipples, reaching a hand up to rub her girlfriend's ears. "I must really turn you into a kitten, don't I?"

"You do," Vivi affirmed, "But only in private like this. Only for you."

"So," Raine chuckled, "You basically turn into Alyss when she relaxes?"

"Does she do this with Jace even when everyone is around?"

"Everyone in our big circle, yeah."

"Then yes, but like this one said, she is only like this around you."

"Now that makes _me_ feel pretty special. Now..." Raine grabbed a hold of Vivi and twisted her body around, pulling Vivi to the side. She rolled over and straddled Vivi's waist, looking down at her with a smirk as she pinned her arms to the bed, "let's go hang out with everyone and not stay in bed all day. Up up, Big Kitty!"

Raine jumped off of her and off the bed, going to gather her clothes. Vivi laid there for a few moments as she watched her girlfriend slip her panties on, then her pants and bra. Vivi began snickering when Raine found the tattered remains of the shirt she wore the night before.

Raine sighed and tossed the shirt at Vivi. "You owe me another new shirt."

"So do you," Vivi laughed as she caught it, "And a new bra."

Raine shrugged and just found one of Vivi's shirts to throw on, extremely loose over her torso. "I want to put my hands on your boobs as soon as I get the urge."

Vivi laughed. "And you owe me new pants and panties. Our relationship is turning out to be very expensive. This one doesn't mind it at all."

"Neither do I."


	60. Chapter 60: Party

**Chapter Sixty**

 **Fourth Act Finale**

 **Party**

"Wait, what?" Jace asked as Genesis ushered Jace and Alyss out of the dorms later after everyone had gathered up what they would take to Menagerie the next day, "Why do we need to go to Auron's house?"

"Because we're having a party!" Genesis cheered, meeting up with Nika outside, "Not supposed to be a surprise, by the way. Dad went and set it up earlier with Lilith, Smoke, and Kathy. It's basically for everyone to relax after fighting so hard in the tournament."

"And where is everyone? Already there?" Alyss asked.

Nika nodded. "Just about. Our teams plus SHRA and SLVR. We asked RWBY and JNPR, but they have plans to go out to a restaurant tonight. Paige and Terra went on a date and Tyr and Ashe are out with Amy."

"Why didn't we get told about it before?" Jace asked them both, "I feel like we should've known about it sooner."

"Well _maybe_ if a certain couple of kittens didn't hole up in their room all day, then they would've known." Genesis replied.

"Point taken, I guess."

"Is it gonna be like when we were there over summer break?" Alyss asked, "It's a bit chilly."

"Pretty much, except I think everything's set up inside for a movie too. I don't know to many specifics." Genesis said as they arrived at the parking lot where three motorcycles sat next to each other.

They went to their own motorcycles, careful not to bump into the bright yellow one and knock it over either way considering theirs were on either side of it. If it was knocked over, they knew they would be in for a world of pain.

"Do you think _Kimura_ would beat that thing?" Genesis asked Jace.

" _Bumblebee_ or _Titan_?" Jace asked in return, "You built both of our's engines back up, so you should know which is better. _Bumblebee_ , I have no idea. I doubt it, though. It looks built for racing."

Genesis shrugged and jumped onto _Kimura_ with Nika stepping over behind him. "I wonder if we could go somewhere and see about that sometime soon."

"Gen, you're not street racing." Nika told him.

"I never said I was going to!" Genesis said defensively, looking back at her with a grin, "I was thinking we could ask around and see if we could use the airdocks or something if there's enough room. I think it would be fun."

"And really dangerous," Alyss said, "You could both hit something and swerve out of control and crash really badly."

"I don't think it would be that bad. Our aura should protect us if we think fast enough and flare it through our bodies if that happened. What's a Huntsman that can't take a little crash, y'know?"

"One that would be fixing his motorcycle by himself if that happened," Nika said dryly, "You do that and wreck _Kimura_ , I'm not helping you beat out the dents and clean the parts."

"Good thing I have solo experience." Genesis laughed.

Jace shook his head as he and Alyss put on their helmets. "I for one am not gonna be racing anything because I'm not making my mate worry."

Alyss kissed the back of his neck. "Good. You make me worry too much and I'm just gonna lock you in our room."

"You're no fun," Genesis grumbled and sarted _Kimura_ , "Don't lag behind!" He yelled to Jace over its engine.

Jace rolled his eyes as he started _Titan_ up as well, the engine roaring loudly with _Kimura's_. "I'm just gonna go slow to spite you!"

"Whatever! I'll be eating all the apples!"

That made Jace growl. "Like hell you will!"

Alyss squeezed his shoulders. "Don't let him get in your head like-"

"And the cherries!" Genesis cut her off with a loud laugh.

Alyss glared at him. "Like hell you will! Jace, floor it!"

 _Titan_ immediately shot forward at the command.

* * *

"...I really haven't seen anything like what you did in the tournaments before," Emowyn told her little sister with a grin, releasing an arrow to send it flying at a target fifty yards away from her, "When dad gets here, he'll say the same. It was awesome."

"Everyone else seems to think so," Raine said and released an arrow of her own, planting it right next to Emowyn's within the space of a needle, "Maybe I shouldn't have even used that cloak. Maybe just a brown one like this." She said, drew, and fired another arrow, remarking about the plain brown cloak she wore.

"Anyone who goes against a Ranger should expect some sneaky shit." Preacher told them, a wide grin on his face as he saw the looks of awe on nearly everyones' face that were watching the sisters compete.

"Yeah, I just met you, but don't cuss around Sapphire," Zack told him, "She hates it."

Preacher laughed. "Got it, kid. I got enough practice keepin' my mouth shut around Kathy. I'm sure you two's gonna get along great the more you get to know each other."

Sapphire nodded. "Thank you. I hope I get along with her well. I'm gonna try to talk to her more when she and Smoke get back. She seems like a really nice woman."

"The nicest next to Charity, here." Preacher said, putting a hand on the older woman's shoulder.

Charity smiled. "It's nice to talk to her casually when I can visit."

"She definitely _is_ one of the nicest," Shyla said, her eyes wide as she watched Raine and Emowyn continued loosing arrows from their bows while talking casually about the tournament, "She barely knew me and let me stay here. She didn't know Amy and let her stay too. She's easy to talk to."

"When she ain't focused on cookin'," Auron said, "I told you she wouldn't mind you stayin'. Keeps things from gettin' stale around here."

"Hey Auron!" Erron called over, "The steak is ready to be switched out!"

"Alright!" Auron called back, "I'll be right back. 'Scuse me, pretty lady." He kissed Shyla on the forehead, earning a smile from her, and slid past her.

"I'll just stay right here next to the fire." Shyla said.

Auron went over to where Erron was tending to the two grills. He took a pair of tongs from Erron and began moving the finished steak to a large platter that was already half full with a multitude of chicken breasts, thighs, and legs. "Care to go get the fish?"

Erron nodded. "All of it or the same amount as the steak?"

Auron laughed. "Safe bet would be to get all of it. Between Jace, Alyss, Lilith, Vivi, dad, an' Preach, it still won't last."

"That's a fair point. That's usually the only thing that Preacher goes for at the Gatherings." Erron remarked and left for the house.

"I don't think the fish will last five minutes," Haile said from the table near Auron, "Even without Preacher and your dad, it's not lasting long."

"You say that as if you can see the future," Lilith said, crossing her arms as she tilted her head at Haile, "I have more self control than that."

"Really?" Haile asked, "Like when you begged Jace to give you a piece when you went to Atlas?"

"That was one time and it was the perfect oppurtunity to see if I could still sway someone to give me something."

Haile laughed. "So you used to do that before?"

"I did. Nearly all the time before everything happened and we moved to Vale."

Haile _hummed_. "I'll be sure to look out for that."

"The cats are here!" Alex called from where he sat with Aulin under the apple tree.

"Hide the cherries!" Aulin laughed.

"I don't feel like gettin' my face clawed off, Aul!" Auron laughed.

"Right! Save that for Shyla and the bedroom!"

Auron shook his head and continued his work, he looked over to Bell where she was sitting with Inuvali, leaning her back into his side as he sat on the other side of the tree. "Hey Bell, c'mere." He said loudly, knowing she could hear him well enough.

Bell stood up and walked over to him. "Yes?"

"You an' Sapphire could probably go ahead and fix the salad up. You remember what to do?"

Bell nodded. "Two separate bowls. One with regular ingredients and one with raw fish and chicken."

"Yep. Everything should already be cut up in the fridge. You just gotta put it together."

"Okay. We will finish soon." Bell said and went to where Sapphire was.

"Haile, mom, can you do me a favor?" Auron asked the two at the table.

"What is it, Pepper?" Lilith asked him.

"Could you two go get the last of the jerky outta the dehydrator?"

"We can. Is it going with the rest in the bowl?"

"Yeah. If it don't fit, then grab another bowl."

The two stood from the table and went toward the house. Inuvali stood from next to the tree and made his way over to the table, taking the seat closest to Auron. "You're coordinating this well. Have you ever considered being a professional chef?"

Auron shook his head and grinned more, almost a constant look on his face since nearly everyone showed up. "I'd never make it. I ain't one for those fancy-lookin' plates that look like they have scraps o' food on 'em. I ain't gonna make a plate like that. Seems like a waste o' time to me."

"You'd just rather pile a plate high and be done with it."

"Exactly."

The two shared a laugh for a few moments. "It's going to be an exciting week. I didn't think more people would be going other than our two teams and Vivi at first. But now we have your parents, Raine's parents, Genesis and Nika, Shyla and Amy, and Haile and Lilith. Vanille only thinks it'll be our two teams. She'll be very excited to see more people."

"Does she like seein' new people that much?"

"Oh yes, she does. She talked everyones' ears off when we were in Hibana for that mission."

"As talkative as Preacher?"

"Yes, only without all the cursing and your accents."

Auron chuckled. "If a kid cussed like Preacher, I'd be really worried."

Inuvali chuckled a bit. "So would I. You know, this will be the first time all of our parents meet. Well..." He sighed at the thought.

"I get what ya mean," Auron said, keeping him from saying it, "If you think about it, Haile's kinda like Aulin's dad since she clings to Alex. I doubt Bell really cares now that she don't have parents. I think she's just happy to be friends with everyone. Plus she always says you, Alex, Aulin, an' Barrett are like family. I think she's good."

"I suppose so," Inuvali said, "She does seem happier after we had that talk before the missions."

"Yeah, y'all was back in your dry, warm room an' I had to drag a damn tree limb outta the road."

"How long did that even take?"

"Not too terribly long. I just used my semblance an' sent it in the river."

"Well that's one way to do it."

"A semblance like mine is pretty useful in a lot o' things. Anyway, yeah, it'll be cool when all our parents meet. I'm sure they'll all find somethin' to talk about."

* * *

An hour later, the last large pieces of fish were sizzling on the grill and Auron sat down with Shyla, who had gone over to him when Raine and Emowyn had their fill of practice.

"Don't," Auron said suddenly, opening his eyes and catching Alyss reaching over to the plate of grilled fish, "Jace, control your woman. She can wait like everyone else."

Jace reached over and took Alyss' hand, guiding it away from the fish. "Be patient, Pretty Kitty. We still need to wait for Raine's parents to get here."

Alyss pouted. "It smells so good..."

"It does. I'll share some of mine with you."

"Thank you, sweetie."

"You can never get enough of fish, can you?" Heath asked with a grin, sitting on the other side of the table next to Auron and Shyla, "You used to rarely eat it. What changed?"

"Having a great cook on the team," Alyss replied, returning the grin, "It's hard to not ask for fish when he can fix it easy."

"Now he just makes it most of the time because he knows we like it." Jace said.

"Makes me wish someone on our team knows how to cook." Barrett remarked from Heath's side.

"Ain't too late to learn," Auron said, "They should really have culinary be a class to take. Everyone needs to know how to cook at least a little bit."

"My school had culinary classes," Shyla said, "I only took them because I really needed to know how to cook if I was gonna live on my own."

"You won't have to worry about that after I graduate," Auron told her, "I'll have somethin' cooked for you when I'm there in between missions."

Shyla looked up at him and smiled. "I would appreciate that so much, Aure."

"Raine! Emowyn! Your parents are here!" Erron called out from the porch to where the two sisters sat next to the fire.

They looked toward the vehicles and saw Auron's truck, that he let his father borrow, parking next to the other vehicles. A few seconds later, Smoke, Kathy, Halt, and Nia got out of it and made their way over to them. Emowyn and Raine ran and hugged their parents.

"I missed you, mom," Emowyn said, hugging Nia more tightly, "I honestly can't remember the last time I saw you..."

"Three years..." Nia said, her eyes beginning to blur, "I always knew you would be okay. I worry, though. I wish I could see you more often."

"So do I, mom. I planned on asking for some time off soon so I can go home for a month."

"I don't love you any less because I don't see you often. I want you to know that."

"It makes me happy to know that, mom."

"It's good to finally meetcha, Halt," Smoke said as the family separated, reaching his hand out, "Emowyn's a great person to have around to help out. Even better friend."

Halt shook his hand. "And I'm glad I finally got to meet the person Emowyn is so keen on working with all the time."

"I think we should leave you all to catch up," Kathy said, "Traffic was a pain and I'm sure you two would want to sit down with your daughters."

"That would be nice. Thank you for inviting us." Nia said to the Mistralians.

"It's no trouble for us. I just hope the flight over was okay," Kathy said, "I'll go get you both something to drink."

Kathy went inside the house while Smoke stayed on the porch with Preacher, Charity, Haile, and Lilith. Raine and her family went over to the fire and sat next to it, joined by Vivi, who's lap Raine sat in. The cat Faunus put her arms around Raine's waist, pulling her tightly to her.

"How have you been, Vivi?" Nia asked her, "I _would_ like to see you while I ask, but my pup is blocking my view."

Vivi laughed. "Oh, this one is doing fine. She's just still amazed by Raine's performance in the tournament."

"I wish I was here for that," Halt said, "I was out on a mission and Nia recorded it for me. You made me so proud, Raine. I don't remember ever seeing anyone try to use stealth during a tournament."

"I know I didn't," Emowyn said, "I don't use _Firefly_ to fight against other people in a friendly fight. I just focused on attacking fast with my daggers. But Raine? Gods, Raine was just amazing."

"Come on, guys," Raine crossed her arms, blushing under all the praise, "I just went out there and really just... fought."

"Yes, but no other Ranger showed skill like that," Halt told her, "They all showed skill of course, but they showed it as Huntsmen. Even Vivi and Em. You showed your skill as a _Ranger_. You showed the world what a Ranger is capable of. You didn't go to the next rounds, but the memory of what you did will stick. You did amazing, pup."

"I think you're embarrassing her, dear. Her face is red and I don't think it's the heat of the fire or Vivi doing it," Nia said, glancing at her mate, "I don't think she wants all of the praise."

"I really _don't_ ," Raine said quietly, "I appreciate that everyone thinks I did amazing, though. All I did was show what I got from you, Gil, and Em, dad. I don't want people praising me if they don't praise you for teaching me."

"All of you are some of the most silent Rangers we have," Vivi said, "Raine learned from the best, in this one's opinion. As much as she praises what her Little Fox did in the tournament, she knows exactly where those skills came from."

Halt grinned. "I think it also helps that she trained hard with every new skill she learned. What's the family saying?"

"Don't train until you get it right..." Emowyn started.

"Train until you never get it wrong." Raine finished.

"Who's family saying is better? Jace's or Crowley's?" Nia asked.

"Grandpa's is best for training, definitely," Raine answered her, "Haile's is just good for life. That's what everyone can go by."

"Very true," Nia agreed, "So Vivi, have you been taking good care of Raine?"

"When I can see her," Vivi answered her, "I always try to do something more when I see her again like take her to dinner among other things. I can't wait to show her my house in Kuo Kuana tomorrow."

"I can't wait to see it." Raine said, a bit of nervousness in her voice.

"You're going to Menagerie?" Halt asked.

"We are. Would you two want to go with us?" Raine asked her parents, "Auron and Inu said earlier that it would be cool for all our parents to meet and we'll be going to Inu's home. It would be perfect since Smoke and Kathy, Jace's dad, and Alyss' mom are going."

"We _could_ go," Nia said, "I wouldn't mind visiting Topaz if we can go to Higara too. It's been awhile since I've seen her. Do you want to go, dear?" She asked Halt.

The veteran Ranger shrugged. "I have a few vacation days still. Do you want to?" He asked and she nodded, "Then we'll go too. I wonder who are going to be assigned there at the Gathering next month."

"Obviously not you or Vivi," Emowyn grinned, "Or me."

Halt chuckled. "Obviously not- Wait..." He looked at his eldest daughter, cocking an eyebrow, "Who now?"

"I'm kind of dating Erron now." Emowyn answered him.

"Oh? How did that happen?" Nia asked her.

"It was a really cold night up at the north coast of the continent," Emowyn explained, "We slept together to help keep each other warm with the fire helping out. It was a mission that we were on and Erron took a bad hit to his leg and we talked for awhile, then we decided to try it out."

"Well..." Halt gave a smile, "I hope it works out for you both."

Kathy returned to them with two glasses of water, handing them both to Halt and Nia. "There you go. From the looks of it, the food is almost done. Bell and Sapphire have the salad ready to go, so now we have to wait on Auron."

"Thank you, Kathy," Nia said, "This is a nice home."

"Thank you. I'm going to go check on the grill. Lilith wants to meet you both, by the way."

"Is that Alyss' mother?" Halt asked and she nodded, "Alright. Let's go meet her, Nia. Then I'm sure Preacher may want to talk my ears off."

* * *

It didn't take long after Halt and Nia met Lilith for the food to be completed. A few small fires were started next to the tables down the length of them, providing warmth to everyone while they ate. Everyone talked about multiple things from the tournament to the students' relationships to the coming trip to Menagerie. The fish had survived longer than what most everyone thought. Jace and Alyss had decided to go slow just to prove everyone wrong, although Vivi, Preacher, and Smoke ate their fill of it quickly while Lilith ate moderately.

After everyone had their fill, the remaining food was put in containers to be saved for snacking on later. They moved inside to the living room where things had been moved around so everyone could sit and watch a movie. It was a documentary about the life of the only three-man team to be students at Atlas academy, detailing their hardships and uphill battles against other teams in the Vytal Tournaments and in sparring matches, ending on a video of the three of them completely holding off a horde of Grimm in the virtual reality pods of Atlas, showing true teamwork with each other, utilizing their emotions to draw the virtual Grimm to them.

The movie ended and they all discussed what they would do since it was close to eleven at night. Most of them decided to stay there for the night. Preacher and Charity left with them giving SHRA a ride in the back of the former's truck. Smoke and Kathy brought out small inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags, and covers for everyone. Auron let Haile and Lilith have the bed in his room while Halt and Nia would took the guest room.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Alyss asked everyone.

"We should try to wake up early so we can go get our things," Jace suggested, "We're leaving for Kuo Kuana around midday."

"We're not pressed too hard on time," Vivi said, "The pilot will wait until we're ready. We should be thankful that Remington is letting me borrow one of our larger airships."

"Yeah, really," Aulin agreed, "Maybe we can wake up around seven so we can have time to get back to the school and make sure we have everything we're taking," Aulin said, " _Especially_ the presents. You think Blake would be awake right now?"

"Probably reading her book," Auron said, "Why?"

"Text her and ask her to send an email to her parents. Ask if they'll let you and Kathy make a cake tomorrow and if they'd be nice enough to maybe get everything you need."

"I ain't gonna ask 'em to buy everything for us, but I'll ask if they'll point us in the right direction when we get there," Auron replied, "I wanna take some o' that food over to 'em too so we can give it to 'en if they let us make it."

"Alright. I think we should all get to sleep," Inuvali said to everyone, "I'm really glad all of you want to do this for Vanille," He gave a smile to his and Auron's teammates, "She's going to have a great time in a couple days."

* * *

"Hello Ghira. This one hopes you've been doing well." Vivi greeted the chieftan of Menagerie the next day.

Ghira raised an eyebrow when he opened his front door, seeing two-and-a-half teams of armed students, two young women, and seven adults, most of them armed with different weapons.

"You too, Ranger. Blake told me about a few people coming, but I didn't expect this many."

"We won't be in your hair long, sir. We just need to use your kitchen for the day." Auron replied, holding multiple containers of food.

"And to point us to where we can get ingredients for an ice cream cake," Kathy said, bowing to him, "Hello, sir. It's an honor to meet you."

Ghira smiled a bit. "It's a relief to see more good humans in the world. It's a pleasure to meet you. I spoke with Kali and she agreed to let you use our kitchen. She is finishing up with preparing all the utensils you need, then she will accompany you and take you to the marketplace to find what you need."

"We brought some food I fixed yesterday as kind of a gift an' a thank you, I guess," Auron said, "It's some leftover chicken, steak, fish, an' some jerky."

Ghira looked at him in surprise. "Thank you, young man. That is very thoughtful of you."

"If you don't mind, could I stay here while they look in town?" Lilith asked, "I would like to rest my back after the flight over. Plus, I don't think everyone is needed to fetch ingredients."

"That would be fine with me. I'll go get Kali. Please, come in for a few moments."

Ghira took what Auron carried and left to the kitchen and everyone went inside, waiting in the front room. Haile leaned in close to Jace and cleared his throat a bit. "Do they know about you, Jace?"

Jace nodded. "Yeah, they do. I don't think Ghira fully knows what to think about me, but I guess he's fine with it for the most part. Just as long as I don't do anything that might put his people here or his daughter in danger."

"That's about the same for any of us, probably." Genesis said.

"He might want to talk with you, dad," Alex said, "Y'know, because of how you took Jace in. He seemed really surprised when I told him."

"Then I'll talk to him when you all go find the things Auron and Kathy need." Haile said.

"Ah! Hello everyone," Kali greeted them all as she and Ghira entered the room, both of them holding half-eaten pieces of jerky, "Thank you for the food. That may save me from cooking for a day or so. The jerky is fantastic."

Auron and Kathy smiled at the compliment. "Thanks, miss," Auron said, "I made it a couple days ago along with a huge batch of it. Mom taught me how to make it."

"We appreciate your kindness," Kali said to them both, "I want to help with your cake if I can. I... haven't tried making any type of cake since Blake was a ten-year-old cub."

"We would appreciate any help we can have," Kathy told her, "I'm Auron's mother. It's nice to meet you."

"You too. And who are the rest of you?"

"Well, my name is Kathy and this is my husband, Jeffery Karmine." Kathy introduced herself and Smoke.

"You can just call me Smoke if ya want," Smoke said, "Nice to meet you both."

"These two are Shyla Lynn an' Amy Dryden," Auron introduced his girlfriend and her best friend, "Shyla's my girlfriend."

"H-hello..." Shyla greeted nervously.

"U-umm, n-nice to m-meet you both." Amy greeted in the same way.

"Don't mind them, please," Auron said, rubbing Shyla's shoulder, "You want me to say it?" He asked Shyla softly, looking down at her. She nodded and he looked to Amy, who nodded as well, "After seein' what the White Fang's done, Shy was real scared o' Faunus for years. Couple years ago, one saved her an' Amy's lives from a guy that wouldn't take no for an answer. They've made great progress with gettin' to know more Faunus since Shy met me an' met Jace, Alyss, an' Raine. She's here 'cause o' that."

"Thank you both for giving our race a second chance," Ghira thanked them, sighing heavily, "Not all Faunus are the same."

"We know that now, sir," Shyla said, "I was always afraid because of what I saw on the news with how the Fang turned... But now I know that's just a small number of Faunus."

"I wish we would've ignored the news back then," Amy said, "But I guess the past is the past. Can't move forward if you're looking backwards, right? I don't know if that makes sense, but... we just have to not be scared of potential friends."

Kali nodded. "Right. I think Weiss learned that well. Right dear?" She asked Ghira.

"Right..." Ghira grunted, "I still don't know about her..."

Kali rolled her eyes. "Give her time. Now, who are the rest of you?"

"Genesis Galloway," Genesis greeted them a bit sharply, "I'm Jace and Alex's adoptive brother. And this is my girlfriend, Nika Styles," He lifted her hand up, "Nice to meet you both. I'm really sorry for my attitude. I'm just... really bad with flying."

"Oh, it's alright. I used to be too," Kali told him, "It gets better with time, at least in my case."

"I hope that's the case with Gen too," Nika said, "I don't think my hand will hold up forever."

Bell stepped forward a bit. "My name is Bell Vonas," She introduced herself with a deep bow, "It is an honor to meet you both."

"I'm Inuvali Lirra. I'm honored to be able to meet you like this, sir." Inuvali introduced himself.

"Ah, you're Fenn's boy," Ghira said, "He's been doing a fine job being the chief of Hibana. It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

"My name is Lilith Wystar," Lilith introduced herself, "Alyss' mother."

"And she's really my best friend, too," Haile said with a grin, "Haile Reznor. Jace, Alex, and Genesis' adoptive father."

"The man that adopted a Faunus in the middle of Atlas?" Kali smiled, "You are one of the best humans in the world because of that. We saw you all at the end of Jace and Genesis' match in the tournament. We heard everything you said to the world."

Haile's grin turned to a smile. "It wasn't any exaggeration. I'm beyond proud of all of my sons. Jace and Genesis more because of what happened to them as children. I hope Alex doesn't mind me saying that."

Alex laughed. "I would be shocked if you wasn't more proud of them than me."

"I don't mean to rush this any," Auron started, "but maybe we should go get the stuff for that cake. It's gonna take awhile to make it."

"Who exactly is this cake for?" Kali asked.

"My little sister," Inuvali answered her, "We're all giving her a second birthday party since Jace's team didn't get to meet her before."

"We all got her gifts too," Aulin said, "We should probably put them in Vivi's house before we go looking for the things you guys need."

"Vivi's house?" Ghira raised an eyebrow, "And why exactly did you need to use our kitchen?"

"My house doesn't have any cooking utensils," Vivi explained, "If Raine and I are assigned here after she graduates, then I will buy them then. I wouldn't want to ask my mother to use hers all day and risk damaging them."

"But you would risk damaging ours?"

"Well... I'm sure you bought your mate the best and most durable lien can buy, right?" Vivi asked with a small grin, causing Kali to laugh.

"Oh, he did indeed. Top quality brands." She said with a grin.

Ghira rolled his eyes and crossed his arms befpre finally finishing his piece of jerky. "It was for her birthday one year and she's been eying them."

"I eyed nothing. You completely surprised me with them."

"Either way," Ghira turned back to Vivi, "I suppose we don't mind as long as you don't damage anything."

* * *

"Hi Vanille." Inuvali greeted his little sister with a grin after she answered the door.

"Hi big brother!" Vanille cheered and jumped into his arms, giving a tight hug, "You brought so many people!"

"I did. And guess what day it is?"

"Huh? What day is it?"

"Happy late birthday!" Everyone exclaimed, brandishing the gifts, and covered-up cake, they were hiding behind their backs.

Vanille squealed in joy as Fenn and Gracia made their way to the door. Fenn took a look around at everyone and noticed all the weapons they had. "Am... I being usurped?"

"No, daddy!" Vanille giggled, "It's my birthday again!"

"Do you even know what usurped means, Puppy?" Inuvali asked her.

"Nope!"

"Everyone please come in," Gracia smiled and she and Fenn moved from the doorway, "Here, I'll set the cake on the living room table."

Smoke and Kathy handed the cake to Gracia and Fenn and they took it inside. Inuvali stopped a small ways into the house and kicked his shoes off into the corner. "Shoes and weapons in the corner," He told everyone, "Family and house rules."

Everyone complied with the request and took their shoes and boots off, putting them in the corner next to the door. The weapons almost completely lined the wall from Raine's longbow and quiver of arrows to Haile's battle axe and shotgun, _Tailaxe_ and _Carnage_ , to Smoke's revolver-rifle, _Jackhammer_ , to Halt's longbow, _Foxdie_ and quiver of arrows, to Jace's artillery claymore.

Fenn glanced back at them all and whistled a bit. "If you all are ever going to be regular guests, then I'm going to need to have a weapon storage room built for this."

Everyone went to the living room after them and Inuvali set Vanille down, letting her run over to see the cake. Gracia uncovered it and Vanille hovered over it, looking at the dual-layered cake in wonder that said "Happy Birthday, Vanille!" on the top.

"It looks so yummy," She gave a wide, toothy grin, "The flowers look so pretty!"

"Who decorated it?" Gracia asked, "It looks very well done."

"I did," Kathy replied, "I know she likes dragons from what everyone said, but I only know how to do flowers. I'm Kathy Karmine, by the way."

Every new person to them introduced themselves with Haile being the last. After that, the cake was cut by Gracia and Vanille had received the first piece. She took a bite of it and her eyes widened.

"This is awesome!" She cheered, "Did you make this, miss?" She asked Kathy.

"Just call me Kathy, sweetie," Kathy smiled at her, "And I only helped make it with Auron. We had some help from a very important woman too. And she got you a little gift."

"Did you really make it?" Vanille asked Auron this time.

Auron nodded. "I did most o' the work while mom an' our special helper made all the right measurements. After you finish eatin' cake, I got somethin' else for you to try."

"Is it what you brought in that big bag?" Fenn asked, "I can smell it even with it closed and it smells amazing."

Auron nodded. "I got a couple smaller bags too. I hope you guys like it. Everyone else does so I'd be shocked if you didn't. It's kinda my gift to Vanille."

Everyone had a piece of cake each and there was still plenty left over. Gracia put it in the refrigerator and returned as everyone put their presents for Vanille on the table. She took a seat in the middle on one of the cushions on the floor and looked through them all. One was almost half as big as her from Jace. She went to grab it first, but she caught sight of the bag that Auron held.

"What's that?" She asked.

Auron grinned, opening the bag and holding it out to her. "Try a piece."

Vanille tilted her head as her long tail swayed back and forth behind her. She reached into the bag and grabbed a large piece. She held it up to her nose and took a huge sniff of it.

"This smells good!" She said, taking more sniffs.

Gracia giggled. "I don't think he just wants you to smell it, honey. Go ahead and take a bite."

Vanille nodded and took a small bite out of the jerky. It wasn't even a second later when her eyes opened up more and she immediately took larger bites until it was all in her mouth. She _hummed_ repeatedly as she rubbed her cheeks with her hands, closing her eyes and smiling.

Auron grinned at the sight. "Well, I got the answer I needed. This whole bag is yours, Vanille."

"Everything?" She asked excitedly, quickly swallowing the jerky.

Auron nodded. "Everything. I made you that much considerin' we missed your birthday, plus the fact I'm probably hardly gonna be down this way too much."

"Everyone says it's the best thing I taught him." Kathy grinned.

"I think so too," Auron said, "Trainin' under three people for different things kept me from gettin' a lot o' free time when I was younger."

"Three?" Fenn asked.

Smoke nodded. "Kat taught 'im to cook while me an' my brother taught him to fight. If you watched the tournament, then you saw that first round."

"We did, actually. How Auron handled that boy like he did was impressive, but Inu did the best in my opinion. He came back from a building falling on top of his head and eliminated three people."

"That may have been my fault," Bell admitted, "The fire I sent toward Barrett caught the fuel on fire and I believe that spread to that building through the pipes underground. I am so sorry if I made you all worry."

Vanille shook her head. "Uh-uh. I knew he was gonna be okay because he's my big brother!"

"I'm glad you have faith in me like that, Vanille." Inuvali smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Which present do you want to open now, sweetie?" Gracia asked her daughter.

"The big one!" She immediatly answered.

"And that one's mine that I got you." Jace grinned, reaching over to grab the present to hand to her.

"Did you really try to outdo the rest of us?" Amy asked him.

Jace shrugged a bit. "I just felt really bad about disappointing her the first time since I was the one that changed plans."

Vanille grabbed it and tore it open in excitement. Soon, she had it completely open and she reached inside. She felt something extremely soft and pulled it out, letting out an excited giggle.

"It's so cute!" She said and hugged the large plushie that was almost as big as herself. It was a red, white-bellied fat dragon with small wings on the back and stumpy limbs, sticking it's tongue out from the side of its mouth, "It's so fluffy and soft and cute and I love it!"

Jace let out a relieved sigh. "I'm glad you do. I hope that makes up for us not coming before."

She nodded multiple times. "I forgive you. Thank you."

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this," Kathy said, pulling a birthday card out of her pocket, "Our helper wanted to give this to you." She handed the card to Gracia.

"Read it, mommy!" Vanille requested, setting the plushie in her lap.

"Whatever you wish, Puppy. Let's see here..." Gracia opened the card up and began reading, " _"Hello, Vanille. You don't know me personally, but you may know who I am. I wanted to help with your cake since your new friends were at our home to make it. I hope you have a wonderful day and many more after"_. Oh? Vanille, you lucky girl," Gracia grinned and pulled a card off of the inside, "This is a gift card for one year of free sea salt ice cream."

"Really!?" Vanille asked in surprise, "Awesome! I want some!"

"When the cake is all gone, pup," Fenn told her, turning back to Gracia, "Does it say who it's from?"

"Oh gods, you won't believe this!" Gracia exclaimed, "The _Mistress of Menagerie_ sent this."

"Wait, Kali Belladonna sent this card for Vanille?" Fenn asked in shock, "Wow... I did not expect that."

"Neither did I."

Vanille continued opening the presents one after the other, squealing in delight at seeing each one, especially the painting that Alex bought for her of the two dragons sleeping in a meadow. Shyla had gotten her a smaller plushie like the one Jace gave her, but it was green with a white underbelly, its mouth open rather excitedly. Amy had took a day to dive into her hobby of painting, giving Vanille a rather rough-looking but polished portrait of a black dragon with yellow eyes that looked very goofy, wearing a grin on its face. Raine gave her a lamp that had a cover around it with designs of dragons to be projected onto the walls when it was dark.

The last to be opened was Alyss' gift for her, which was smaller than everything else. "Mine's pretty simple compared to everything else, but I hope you like it."

Vanille had a piece of jerky sticking out of her mouth as she sucked on it. She opened the small package up and revealed a hair brush. The handle was normal as far as hair brushes go, plastic with a rubber grip, but the end of the handle had a design of a golden dragon head, holding an orb of yellow crystal.

"Ooohhh... The yellow is pretty!" Vanille said, looking at the crystal in wonder.

Alyss smiled. "I guess that means you like it, huh?"

Vanille nodded. "Yeah! Thank you, Alyss! I have to brush everyone's hair now!"

Fenn let out a short bark of laughter, then it returned and went on for a few moments. "Is this why you waited to give it to her last, Alyss?"

Alyss nodded, smiling widely. "Kinda, yeah. Now she won't ignore all the other gifts."

"Alyss is first!" Vanille cheered.

"I look forward to it." Alyss said.

* * *

"Gods, she's so adorable," Raine said to Inuvali with a wide grin, "I'm glad I finally got to meet her after seeing so many pictures."

Inuvali chuckled. "It's about time. I've been wanting everyone to for so long."

"There. No more tangles." Vanille said with one final brush through Jace's hair.

"I never knew how good it felt to have someone else brush my hair." Jace remarked as Vanille began to braid his hair.

"Told you." Alyss snickered, her own hair braided thickly past her bow.

"Yeah, I know you did, Pretty Kitty."

"Did you have a good day, Vanille?" Gracia asked her daughter.

"Yeah. I'm really happy you guys came to meet me. I get to snuggle with two really cute plushies now." Vanille replied, holding back a yawn.

Inuvali grinned. "Is the little pup getting tired?"

"A little bit..." Vanille replied, "But I still need to brush miss Lilith's hair."

"We can come back tomorrow," Lilith offered, "That way you can brush it at full energy. Does that sound okay?"

Vanille took a few moments to think on it as her eyes slowly closed. They shot back open and she nodded. "Yeah... s'okay..."

"Do you want me to brush your tail again, sweetie?" Bell asked her.

"Mhmm. It feels so awesome..."

Halt grinned. "I don't know if we're exactly the same, but it feels amazing when Nia brushes my tail too."

"I wanna brush it sometime if you don't mind."

Halt nodded. "We can come back tomorrow too. We'll still be in Menagerie for a few days, so you'll have enough time."

"I can give you a few pointers on how to put him to sleep if you want." Nia offered with a grin.

Vanille nodded. "Sure!"

"We should actually probably go before it gets too much later," Auron suggested, "I wanna get goin' before everyone in town starts goin' to sleep so our vehicles don't risk wakin' everyone up."

"That would be a bad impression, wouldn't it?" Haile chuckled, "Good thing I didn't bring my truck. I won't be blamed at least."

"We could all stay the night if it's okay," Aulin suggested, "That way we won't risk waking anyone up and then Vanille can get an early start on brushing Lilith's hair and Halt's tail."

"That would be fine with me," Gracia agreed, "What about you, Fenn?"

"I won't object to it, but we don't have a guest room and we have a limited amount of sleeping bags." Fenn replied.

"A few of us can sleep out in Auron's truck," Alex said, "The front seat and passenger seat lean back enough and a small person can lay in the back seat under them. Then two or three or maybe four people can sleep in the bed as long as they have covers."

"Me and Alyss could do that," Jace said, "I can give off enough heat to keep her and whoever else warm."

"I would be okay with that," Alyss agreed, "And I'd be fine with sharing the bed with whoever else wants to."

A few moments later, Vanille had finished braiding Jace's hair with one single braid down the back. Bell had taken the brush from her and they sat on the couch as the young priestess began softly brushing the wolf Faunus girl's tail. Vanille slowly drifted off to sleep under the thorough brushing, slowly sinking forward onto the couch. Fenn took her up to her room with her new plushies and everyone shared a light conversation that lasted until ten. Then, everyone went to their chosen sleeping areas. Bell had shared Inuvali's bed while Aulin and Alex, Haile and Lilith, Smoke and Kathy, and Halt and Nia slept in the living room on the couch and on the sleeping bags Fenn and Inuvali brought out.

Auron, Shyla, and Amy had taken the cab of the truck with Auron and Shyla in the front seats and Amy laying in the back. Jace, Alyss, Raine, and Vivi had taken the bed and a few sets of covers, two to lay on and two to cover up with. Jace provided Alyss with comfortable warmth while Raine and Vivi bundled up in their cloaks together under the covers.

Auron leaned back in his seat, clasping his hands over his stomach as he closed his eyes. "You alright back there, Amy?"

"A bit cramped, to be honest," Amy answered, "But it's fine for the most part."

Auron knew her head and torso were more behind him and he went to lean his seat forward a few inches. "That better?"

Amy took a few moments to readjust and _hummed_. "Yeah. Thanks, Auron. I really see why Shy loves you."

Shyla chuckled a bit. "I know, right? He's awesome."

"I just like makin' everyone comfortable if I can." Auron said.

"It shows," Amy replied and gave a small sigh, "Shyla's lucky to have you."

Outside in the bed, everyone stayed comfortably silent as they snuggled closer to their respective lover. Alyss and Raine were back to back against each other, showing how close everyone had to be to be able to fit in the bed of the truck.

Jace had his eyes closed as he had his arms around Alyss, one hand laying on the side of her head with his thumb lightly rubbing the hair above her human ear. "You comfortable?" He asked softly.

Alyss nodded, putting her head against his chest. "Mhmm. Even though there's not a lot of room, it's nice."

"I'll say," Raine said and pushed her head more into Vivi's breasts, "It's nice being the small one in a relationship."

"It's nice being the big one," Vivi grinned, "You make this one remember that whenever you do this."

"It's nice to snuggle up to my Big Kitty like this," Raine pulled herself a bit tighter to Vivi, "Being so close to each other, sharing body heat, having my head on two soft cushions..."

"Don't get carried away now, Raine," Alyss giggled, "Save that for when you have a room to yourselves."

"Planned on it. It won't stop me from saying stuff, though."

Jace laughed softly. "And people say I'm bad..." He opened his eyes and looked up at the stars for a few moments, "You ever wonder if there are other universes? With other versions of us?"

"I can't say I have," Alyss mumbled, "I kinda don't want to think of another universe where we might not be together."

"Definitely." Raine agreed.

"Mhmm." Vivi _hummed_.

Jace gave a sigh of contentment as Alyss pulled herself tighter to him. "It's a weird thing to think about. Like what if something really bad happened to us in another world?"

Alyss opened her eyes up and looked up at the moon. "If so, then I hope they would be okay. Or us... Gods, this _is_ really weird to think about."

"Yep," Jace chuckled, "It's interesting though. I wonder what that other me's life would be like..."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: Well, this story is basically done with just four epilogue chapters that I'll post next week. After reading back through The Brave and the Bold, I know that this was nowhere near as good as I made that even with all the grammatical errors in B &B, but whatever. It's going to still be a long time before the sequel to that is finished and I hope that will do well. I already made a couple of decisions that may not sit right with some readers, and by god I am not backing out on those decisions.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story. See you for the epilogues, and have a nice day!**


	61. Epilogue Part One

**AN: Hello everyone. I just wanted to say thank you for following this story or if you just found it and read all this way. This is the last few chapters of this story and it's the last time for team JKDW to be in the spotlight. It's like the name of the act. This chapter specifically ends on bit of a sour note for an epilogue, but not anything terribly bad.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

 **Act Five: Final Exit**

 **Epilogue Part One**

"Thank you for the breakfast," Jace thanked Gracia at the door to her home, "We're gonna go explore around Hibana. If you need help with anything, have Inu text us."

Gracia nodded. "I wouldn't want to ask, but okay. Have a fun time looking around."

"It should be fun," Alyss replied, "I can't wait to see everything here."

"Why are you lugging that bag around?" Gracia asked Jace, "Wouldn't you be more comfortable leaving it here?"

Jace grinned a bit as he repositioned the bag over his shoulder, making sure the box holding his temporary arm wouldn't fall out of it. "It's a bit past time for maintenance on my arm. We'll walk around for a bit and find somewhere to sit and do what we need to."

"Ah. Well, I'll leave you both to exploring. Have a good day."

Jace and Alyss left, walking down the road further into town, walking past more and more Faunus as the streets grew denser. They decided to leave their weapons at Inuvali's house for the day so they wouldn't make any of the locals uncomfortable. Auron had left to take Vivi back to her house along with Raine, Shyla, and Amy. Genesis and Nika stayed back with Alex, Aulin and the others, not wanting to accidentally cause any type of trouble with the Faunus considering what they had been told of how some of the Faunus there were. Even though it was winter, the climate of Menagerie usually kept the weather decently warm during the day. There was a bit of a chill, but nothing to make anyone really cover themselves up.

"Yesterday was awesome." Jace said suddenly, breaking the silence the two shared with each other.

Alyss nodded. "It was. I'm glad Vanille liked everything we got her. It was great to meet her. She really put that brush to good use, didn't she?"

"Yeah, especially you and Bell. Said you two have the prettiest hair out of all of us."

"She's so precious. I'm really glad we came this time. I always wished I had a little sister. Maybe Vanille can be that for me sometime. We'll have to visit more sometime if we can."

Jace nodded. "I'd like to try. It's nice here, if a bit crowded."

"Well, there's not a lot of room the Faunus can use here," Alyss remarked as they slid past a group of people, "Hopefully that changes and people can live more comfortably here. It's such a pretty place."

They arrived at the marketplace where it was even more crowded than the streets. Both of them recieved passing smiles from some Faunus who they smiled back at, feeling the same pressure in their shoulders at passing some of them. Slowly, they walked through the marketplace and looked at different things for sale. Some people still had summer clothes to sell along with ones suited to the chilly weather. Other vendors sold pairs of boots and shoes, wind chimes, pastries, knives, and different musical instruments.

Alyss stopped next to the pastries, tugging on Jace's arm. "I smell cherries." She said with a grin

Jace stopped and took a step back, taking a sniff of the air. "Oh, that smells good. Were you sniffing out specifically for cherries or something?"

"As soon as I smelled food." Alyss replied, looking over all of the pies.

Jace sniffed around some more and he tilted his head. "Almonds and apples too. Aulin would love the almonds, no doubt."

"Hello!" An aging Faunus woman with ears of a bear greeted them both, "Are you interested in anything?"

Jace nodded. "Which ones have cherries and which have apples? These smell really good."

"These three have black cherries," She pointed to three small pies on the left side, "These two have wild cherries," She pointed at the two above them, "And six of these have apple," She pointed to the pies on the opposite side of the stand, "I sent my son home to bring more to put out. Other than those, there are pecan pies, almond and chocolate pies, banana pies, grape pies, and strawberry and chocolate pies."

"They all sound really good," Alyss said, looking over all of the pastries, "They smell even better... I want one of both types of cherries."

"I'll take two apple pies," Jace said and brought out his wallet, "Umm... I want a black cherry one too. And I'll get an apple one for you, Alyss. Wanna take anything back to the others?"

Alyss nodded. "Almond and chocolate for both Aulin and Alex?"

"Grape for Gen and... Strawberry and chocolate for Nika. Dad would like Strawberry and chocolate too."

"Bell would like an apple pie and Inu likes grape," Alyss thought on it more and _hummed_ , "Mom like's wild cherry more I guess two of each would be safe except for the wild cherry. Mom would only want one anyway. I think that's everyone."

"Alright," Jace grinned at the Faunus behind the stand, "Did you get all of that?"

She nodded and smiled. "Give me a few moments. It's a bit of a tall order. Do you want yours in a separate bag?"

They nodded and the woman worked to gather the pies up, wrapping them each with labels that told what kind they were. She put them all into two separate bags and held them out to them. Jace took the bags after paying his share of lien, then Alyss gave the rest. Jace handed the smaller bag to Alyss for her to carry and they went to walk on.

"It's nice to see such a young and happy couple, by the way," The woman said before they left, "Only in your second year in Beacon and already mated... True love never dies.

"You saw the tournament?" Jace asked.

The woman nodded. "Bits and pieces in videos that my friends emailed over. Have a nice day."

"You too, miss." Alyss smiled and they went down the row of stalls.

They browsed what was for sale, tempted with the scents that came from the bags. "I can't wait to eat these. They smell so freaking good." Jace remarked.

"We could eat them before your maintenance," Alyss suggested, lightly hitting a wind chime with her fingers to cause it to make a short melody of sound, "I've always thought wind chimes sound pretty."

Jace grinned. "None of them are gonna ever sound prettier than you."

Alyss giggled, interlocking her fingers with his as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Everyone else might complain, but I love it when you're sappy."

Jace laughed. "Maybe that's secretly why I keep saying things like that."

"They can just put up with it or get earplugs. You keep being sappy as long as you want."

"Got it," Jace turned his head and kissed between her cat ears, drawing a short _purr_ from her, "I think we should come back here before we leave town. Maybe get everyone else a few pies too. Then we can come back before we leave Menagerie and take back a bunch for everyone else."

"Sounds like the nice thing to do, so let's do it. Too bad that woman probably can't make vanilla pies. I would buy Vanille a few."

"Speaking of her, I actually want to try some sea salt ice cream now. I mostly just tasted vanilla in the cake, so I just want to try regular."

"Me too. I've been really curious."

Jace looked ahead over a few peoples' heads and tried to catch sight of anything. He shrugged and did the next best thing, stopping at a stall run by a couple of ox Faunus twins selling tools, both with a set of horns on their heads.

"Hello there. Interested in any tools?" One of them asked.

Jace shook his head. "Do you know where we can get some sea salt ice cream here?"

The other man nodded. "Past the end of the stalls where you were going. To the left closer to the edge of town on the side of the sea is an ice cream shop with a sign above the door. You can't miss it."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Happy to help."

Jace and Alyss left them and continued on behind a line of other Faunus. After going past multiple stalls, Jace stopped at the one on the end that sold a multitude of hunting and combat knives, machetes, and hatchets.

Alyss rolled her eyes a bit. "I'll go get us some ice cream. You can look here."

Jace nodded and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll try to not be long."

"Take your time, sweetie." Alyss told him and went off toward the ice cream shop.

Jace was so distracted with watching her go that he barely heard what the vendor was saying. "You're lucky, kid. It wasn't until I was thirty when I found my mate."

Jace turned to the vendor, an old fish Faunus man with a scarf around his neck covering most of his gills, and smiled. "I feel really lucky to have her."

The man grinned. "When I met my mate, we got to talking about knives and things like that. We instantly hit it off. He works the forge and makes them all while I sell them."

"They look really well made," Jace remarked, "Your mate must have had a lot of years doing this, hasn't he?"

"More than thirty. He said he started blacksmithing around sixteen years old. Now, are you interested in anything or just browsing?"

"Just looking for now. What's the story with this one?" Jace pointed at a combat knife with a nine inch-long and one-and-a-half inch-wide blade, a black-leather wrapped handle, a silver pommel, and a short crossguard. On the side of the blade toward the back side of it was an engraving that read " _Never Give Up_ ".

"Seems like a strange thing to engrave on a knife." Jace said.

"Then you aren't looking at it right," The man said, "Think of this. You're backed into a corner, you lost your weapon, your hands are empty, and the Grimm or an outlaw Huntsman is inching closer to you. You reach down at your hip and pull out this knife, then you see those words in the corner of your eye. You never give up even if it looks like the world it trying its worst to cut you down. Even if you lose your weapon in a fight, never give up. Even if you're close to losing a fight, never give up. You see what I'm getting at?"

Jace began nodding slowly. "Or if you lost an arm... Never give up..."

The man nodded. "Right. Seems like you got it covered pretty well."

Jace nodded a bit faster this time. "Really thanks to my mate, but yeah. I didn't give up at all because of her."

"And like what I heard that human in the tournament say. He thought about it, but he didn't," The man took a closer look at Jace, "My eyes aren't what they used to be, but are you the one that made it to the last match?"

Jace nodded once again. "Yeah. You watched it too?"

"My mate had a stream downloading while he was working the forge. We watched it last night."

"Oh... That was my friend Tyr you were talking about. I was the one he said that to."

"There's something that I've been wondering... Why shake hands with a Schnee?"

Jace tensed up at the question. "If you'll excuse my language here..." He took a deep breath, "Weiss is nothing like her piece of shit father. She proved to be more friendly to me, my mate and our teammate, her teammate, and a few of our other Faunus friends than a few other Faunus have. She's friendlier than most humans, really. I was surprised at first, but it was a good surprise. She wants to take control of the SDC and turn it around. She wants to do everything she can to fix what her father has done to Faunus everywhere, especially in Atlas."

The man _hummed_ , crossing his arms. "Sins of the parents are usually put on the children. I would hope what you said is true. I'd like to give her a fair shake, but Jaques makes that pretty hard."

"Everyone really needs to stop lumping her in the same thing as him. It doesn't make anyone better."

"Too true. My name's Nemo, by the way," Nemo introduced himself, "Sorry if I hit a sore spot with what I said."

"It's fine. Weiss has to deal with that a lot," Jace sighed and picked the combat knife up, holding it in his hands, "I think I might buy this. How much?"

"Hundred and fifty, but I'll tell you what. I'll drop it to ninety for making it to the final match of the tournament."

"Really?" Jace asked in surprise, "I can pay the full amount."

Nemo shook his head. "It's okay, kid. I think you deserve a bit of a discount. Say, was what that guy said true?" He asked curiously, "I know it's probably personal, but did he really adopt you? That human?"

Jace nodded as he pulled out the lien from his wallet. "He really did. Straight off the street without a second thought. He's the greatest Atlesian I know and the greatest I'll ever know. I owe him everything."

Nemo smiled and took the lien that Jace handed him. "Damn good man. Need more like him around."

"We do. We really do." Jace said and took the black sheath of the knife, sliding the blade in smoothly.

"You have a good day, kid."

"You too, Nemo. I'm Jace, by the way."

Nemo grinned and chuckled. "I know that from the tournament. Good to meet you."

Jace walked away from the stand, holding the knife in his hand. He grinned and slipped it under his belt as he continued walking toward the ice cream shop with a sign above the door saying _Katja's Cool Treats_. After a few moments, he walked inside and went to stand next to Alyss, who was waiting patiently by the counter.

Alyss looked up at him with a bit of concern. "You okay? You got mad."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jace reassured her, "Nemo, the knife seller guy, asked why I shook hands with a Schnee. I told him about Weiss and the crap she has to deal with and he said he hopes it's true. He's a nice guy."

"Sounds like it. I hope more people are like him here."

"Ah, I take it this is him?" The raccoon Faunus woman named Katja asked Alyss as she came up to the counter. She had a short but fluffy tail colored black and tan.

Alyss nodded. "Yeah. This is my mate, Jace."

Jace raised his hand in a wave. "Hello, miss."

"Hi. Are you ready for your ice cream?" Katja asked.

Alyss nodded, turning back to Jace. "Since this is our first time trying regular sea salt ice cream, she wants to see our reaction."

Jace laughed. "It must be something else, then."

Alyss looked down at Jace's waist, her head tilting a bit. "Why did you buy a knife?"

Jace grinned, taking the knife from its sheath. He showed the engraving on the side to her. "Nemo sold me on it. Plus I can really relate to the engraving." He said and returned it.

Alyss _hummed_. "Yeah, you can."

"Alright! Here you go," Katja said, handing them both a stick of light-blue ice cream.

They each took one and Katja put her elbows on the counter, resting her chin in her hands as she grinned. "Enjoy it."

Jace and Alyss nodded and slowly bit off a bit of their bars. Jace's face scrunched up a bit and he tilted his head, and Alyss was the same. They let the ice cream melt in their mouths and took another bite each.

The Faunus at the counter tilted her own head a bit. "So, what do you think?"

"It's... really weird," Jace answered, "Not in a bad way, though. It tastes really weird, but really good. I don't know how to describe it."

"It's really salty," Alyss said, "If it wasn't for my really sensitive taste buds, then I would like it a lot more. I mean, I still like it, but I don't like tasting all the salt."

"Dang, still need less then," Katja said, "We've been going less and less on how much sea salt we use. We're trying to get a good balance so everyone can enjoy it fully."

"I would definitely still eat it, but..." Alyss looked down at her stomach, "It tastes like it would make me fat."

"Is that what you're worried about?" Jace asked, "You'd still be really pretty even if you put on a little weight."

"Best mate ever, right there," Katja laughed, "My boyfriend loves my plumpness. Soft to lay his head on, he says."

"Our teammate thinks the same of her girlfriend's thighs." Alyss said.

"She can't get over it, really." Jace grinned.

"Do you want anything else or is that it?" Katja asked them both.

"This is it," Alyss said, "We just really wanted to try it while we're here."

"Did you already pay for them?" Jace asked Alyss.

"Yeah. Five lien for two. You ready to go?"

Jace nodded. "I'm ready," He said and turned to Katja, "Thank you for the ice cream. Umm, be ready to see a lot of someone in the future."

Katja _hummed_. "I'll leave it as a surprise. You two have a nice day."

* * *

Jace and Alyss spent close to an hour more looking around the marketplace. After that, they found a bench and a table away from most of the townsfolk closer to the seaside edge of Hibana and sat down, setting their bags between them on the bench.

"Pies first, then arm?" Jace asked.

Alyss nodded. "I don't think I want the smell of oil on my hands while I eat."

Jace laughed and opened the bag of pies for them. "Fair enough. Let's see..." He reached into the bag and brought two of their pies out, keeping them in his hands, "Want me to warm them up for a few seconds?"

"Yeah. I'm sure they're a lot better warm."

Jace took a few moments and sent dust and aura through his hands and fingers, slowly warming them back up to a semi-fresh state. Alyss prodded them and when she felt they were warm enough, she told Jace and they began eating them. Alyss was the first to begin and as her teeth sank into the thin shell of the pie, its contents oozed into her mouth, making her _moan_ in pleasure.

" _Mmmm~_. Scho good." She said after biting through the rest of it, her full mouth slurring her speech.

Jace _hummed_ in response as he bit into his apple pie. "Oh yeah," He swallowed his mouthful and licked his lips, "Really, really good."

"I can only imagine what the others taste like," Alyss said before taking another bite of her black cherry pie, "I'm tempted to schteal the othersh an' eat 'em."

"Don't go that far," Jace laughed, "We can come back tomorrow and get one of each to try."

Alyss swallowed and nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

Jace leaned down and kissed her on the lips, softly hilding her chin in the fingers of his free hand. "I kinda like it when you talk with your mouth full."

Alyss giggled at that. "Why?"

Jace grinned. "I think you sound cute."

Alyss took a bit of her pie. "You think scho?"

Jace leaned in and kissed her again, slowly sending his tongue past her lips to get a taste of what Alyss was eating. "Mmm..." He pulled back from her and licked his lips, "That pie tastes good."

Alyss caught his lips for another kiss before swallowing. "It does. I bet that apple one tastes good too."

Jace nodded and took a bite of it. "Wanna schee?" He asked her.

Alyss smirked and did as Jace did moments before, but she sent her tongue all around inside his mouth, getting a very good taste of it. "Ooh, that tastes great too."

They both shared a few more kisses and quickly ate their pies and cleaned their hands off. They decided to save the others for later and began emptying the contents of Jace's maintenance bag onto the table. Jace set the box with his temporary prosthetic next to everything and worked to take his main one off, letting Alyss organize everything in front of them. Jace reached back and opened the switchbox of his prosthetic and switched it off, gasping as he lost all feeling in it.

He shook his head as he began undoing the locks and pins in the shoulder. "I really can't get used to that."

"I don't imagine anyone could," Alyss said as she set the oil and cloth next to each other, "At least you never have to go more than a few minutes."

"I really should thank Hayley again. I need to schedule a check up and make sure everything is fine on deeper in."

Jace conpletely took the arm off and gently laid it on the table. He opened the box and pulled his temporary prosthetic out. He put the shoulder up tightly against the base in his shoulder and Alyss reached up, locking one of the locks in place for him. Jace let go of it and began locking the rest in place and pushing the pins down into it, each one sending a jolt through his shoulder as he locked them into place. When he finished with that, he flipped the switch on and regained feeling.

"Alright. Now to oil my fighting one." Jace said and he joined Alyss with wiping the insides of the prosthetic's joints with oil-dipped cotton swabs.

They took their time with oiling what needed to be oiled. Alyss worked with the shoulder down while Jace took the smaller joints. Ever since Jace recieved his temporary arm and when they were together after that, he and Alyss took turns with where they started. It worked out given that they switched out when oiling the small, harder to reach joints of the fingers.

After about ten minutes into their work, Jace looked up and smiled at the sight of the ocean before him. "This is such a pretty place. Maybe the Faunus back then lucked out a bit when they came here."

"Maybe a bit, yeah. It would be paradise if there was a lot more room to use." Alyss replied.

Jace nodded and looked up and down the coast with a smile. Before he returned to his work, he caught a glimpse of a few Faunus staring at him with nasty looks on their faces. Jace paid them no mind and took a deep breath, focusing himself on his work.

"You notice them too?" Alyss asked.

"Yeah... They're looking at me like a freak," Jace replied, "Oh well. If they try to do anything, we'll just go back and continue this at Inu's."

Alyss glanced at him. "What happened to wanting to confront people if they try to start something?"

Jace met her emerald and sapphire eyes with his own ruby-red and smiled. "I think your aura may be making me smarter."

Alyss giggled a bit and gave him a kiss. "That can only be a good thing."

"Definitely. I hope my aura doesn't make you want to confront people."

"I wouldn't worry. I have no interest in doing that with these people."

They continued on with their work in silence for a few minutes. Jace could hear mumbling coming from the three Faunus down the street, but he didn't care enough to try to focus in on it. He shrugged it off and just ignored them. That was until they began walking toward them. A lion Faunus with a thick mane of orange hair, a leopard Faunus with black splotches on his arms and calves, and a lynx Faunus with tan-furred ears on the top of his head.

Jace sighed. "Gather everything up. I don't want to deal with this."

Alyss nodded and put her cotton swab in the pack with Jace's. "I don't either."

They put everything up as fast as they could, but didn't finish in time before the three arrived. "So the traitor pays a visit to Menagerie?" The lion sneered.

"I don't see who I ever betrayed," Jace replied as calmly as he could as he boxed his prosthetic up, "I'm loyal to all my friends and I don't know anyone here."

"You're a traitor," The leopard told him, "We saw exactly who you shook hands with."

Jace took a deep breath. "Why wouldn't I shake hands with my friend after a good match? I still don't see how I'm a traitor."

"Bullshit you don't know," The lion shot back, "Are you too stupid to see what that family has done to us?"

"First off, _don't_ call him stupid," Alyss raised her voice, "Second, you don't know Weiss like we do."

All three of the Faunus laughed at that. "What would we possibly want to know about that frigid bitch?" The lynx asked as a crowd of people began flocking around at hearing their raised voices.

"Don't fucking talk that way about her!" Jace yelled, jumping up out of his seat, "You don't know a damn thing about her!"

"We know enough that she paid you off to be her _friend_ ," The lion said, "How much did you sell your soul to the devil for?"

Jace glared at them. "She didn't pay me anything. She gave me friendship and that's all I want from her."

"Oh, so she has you tricked? Just like your fake father?"

At the mention of Haile, Jace's eyes widened and his pupils grew slitted. "Don't you fucking dare bring him up..."

"What? You don't realize it?" The lynx shook his head, "What other use would a human want to take a Faunus off the street other than to use as a glorified maid-"

Jace jumped from the bench and punched him in the chin with his prosthetic hand hard enough to shatter his jaw. He fell to the ground and the other two went to hit Jace from his sides. Jace activated his semblance and grabbed their hands, squeezing hard as his eyes radiated his aura's ruby-red color.

"Don't you fucking racists ever question the love my father has for me..." Jace snarled and squeezed even harder, "I don't know what you thought when you decided to gang up on a Huntsman-in-training. I don't know if you thought you would be funny... but I'm not fucking laughing. Racism goes both ways. Faunus like you are just as bad as Weiss' father, if not worse. You don't want equality. You want control. That shit isn't flying with me. You want to insult me, that's fine. Call me whatever you want. You insult my friends, then I'll fight back. But if you insult my father and tell me he doesn't love me..."

"Jace!"

Jace squeezed their fists harder and caused loud cries of pain to erupt from their mouths. He looked back behind him and saw Fenn, Haile, and Inuvali running down the boardwalk toward them through the crowd. The lion and leopard Faunus tried pulling away to run, but Jace held tightly and stomped on the lynx's foot to keep him from trying.

"Jace, What's going on?" Haile asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you for coming so soon." Alyss said to Fenn, her eyes almost reverting fully back to their normal state.

Fenn nodded. "What is going on, exactly?"

"Th-this is a spy!" The lion Faunus said quickly, "Th-they both are! They're trying to get information for the Schnees!"

"I very highly doubt that," Fenn scoffed, turning back to Alyss, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Alyss nodded. "Me and Jace were giving maintenance to his other prosthetic. We were in the middle of doing that when these three came to us, calling Jace a traitor for shaking hands with Weiss. Then..." Her eyes began to slowly grow slitted again, "The one Jace is standing on said Haile only adopted Jace for him to be a maid. That's when Jace punched him."

"He... s-said what?" Haile asked with a dangerous chuckle, looking down at the Faunus on the ground, "What did you fucking say?"

"Oh don't act like it's not the truth!" The leopard yelled at him, "We know that crap you spewed was a lie!"

Haile's mouth twitched into a scowl. "Fenn..."

Fenn gave a sigh. "No one will stop you, Haile."

Haile nodded and stepped forward, sending his fist out and catching the Faunus in the nose, breaking it and causing a short spray of blood to come out, coating his knuckles. Jace let go of his fist and he fell backward, his back slamming into the ground as he held his nose.

"Don't you ever say I don't love my son!" Haile yelled, standing over him as the crowd of Faunus recoiled from the volume of his voice, "Every bit of what I said was the truth! Racists like you make me sick! You preach on and on about how humans treat you like garbage but you turn around and do the same thing and spew out racism against us all! You and the White Fang are the worst types of Faunus on the same level with the head of the SDC! You want to accuse me of not loving my son!? You want to accuse me of faking what I said during the finals of the tournament!? You're lucky I respect Fenn or you would all be put in a clinic for months!"

Fenn placed a hand on Haile's shoulder. "I think you made your point."

Haile shook his head. "It's doubtful. People like them never change. Faunus _or_ human."

Fenn sighed. "Too true..." He turned to the three Faunus and scowled, "You three should consider yourselves lucky that this young man controlled himself. Inu, take Jace and the others to the house. I'll stay here and deal with this."

Jace let go of the lion Faunus' fist, causing him to fall on his ass. All three of them glared up at everyone as Jace went to gather everything.

Haile sighed and looked at his fist. "Great... I didn't want a racist's blood on my fist today."

Jace went back to the table and picked up his bag and the box with his prosthetic. He noticed Alyss standing from the bench and beginning to walk toward the Faunus on the ground.

"They aren't worth it, Alyss." Jace told her.

"I know, but I'd be going back on my promise if I ignored them." Alyss replied.

Jace gave a small smile. "You're too good for this world."

Alyss knelt down next to the Faunus and they turned away from her, trying to scoot away as well. "Hey!" Jace yelled at them, "Unless you want to deal with broken bones for awhile, then you let her do what she wants to do."

"Stay put," Fenn ordered the Faunus, "She'll help you."

The three complied with the town chief without question and stopped. Alyss put her hands over the lynx Faunus' chin and jaw and pulsed her semblance, radiating her purple aura over his chin and jawline. Soon, she healed his bones back and went over to the leopard Faunus, putting the tips of her index and middle fingers to his nose and doing the same thing. In just a few moments, his nose was healed and he breathed deeply through it.

Alyss went to rise, but the leopard Faunus grabbed her wrist. "Why the fuck did you mate with that traitor?" He whispered, "Why not be a mate to a Faunus that's-"

A loud smack resonated through the area, making everyone that gathered around flinch in surprise as Alyss slapped him with every bit of force she could without using her aura and severely injuring him. He released his hold on her wrist and yelled in pain. He looked up at her and she slapped him again, just as hard as her eyes grew completely slitted.

"Don't you dare call him a traitor." She growled at him, stood, and walked away.

She stepped over to the table she and Jace were at and grabbed the bag with everyones' pies, then she stormed off, followed by Jace, Haile, and Inuvali. They caught up with her quickly and Inuvali glanced behind them.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"It's fine." Jace said briskly.

"No, it isn't. Those three had no right to say anything like that about you, Haile, or Weiss. What Haile said is right. Faunus like him are just as bad as the SDC."

"They're worse to me because of what I said. They don't want equality. They want control," Jace let out a frustrated sigh and looked to Alyss, "What caused you to slap him?"

"Don't ask, please," Alyss replied shortly, "I want to go to Inu's house and just forget about them."

"Alright," Jace slipped his free hand into hers and lightly squeezed it, "We can wait until tomorrow to finish with my arm."

"If I knew how to, I'd do it for you," Haile said, "But with how pissed off I am, I would probably either mess it up or miss places. Let's try to not tell Lilith or Genesis about this. I don't want to have to hold Gen down in the house," He glanced at Jace and noticed the knife under his belt, "Did you buy a knife?"

Jace nodded, taking his hand from Alyss and handing the knife, sheath and all, to him. "Ninety lien. It was going to be a hundred and fifty, but the guy sold it to me at a discount for making it to the last match."

Haile took the blade out of the sheath and immediately caught sight of the engravings. "Huh... it fits."

"Hey dad?" Jace said.

"Yeah, Jace?"

"Clean your fist before we get back."


	62. Epilogue Part Two

**Epilogue Part Two**

Auron yawned as he stared through the window of the airship, looking at a small town on the coast of Anima that they had just flown over. It was a few days after Vanille's party and most everyone was flying back to Haven where Haile and Lilith, Halt and Nia, and Smoke and Kathy would separate from the students and return to their homes. The only ones missing were Raine and Vivi, who stayed back to stay another few days in Kuo Kuana.

"Still tired?" Shyla asked him.

Auron nodded. "Yeah. It's nice to stay up an' just relax, but I don't think we shoulda stayed up 'till five in the mornin'."

"Probably not. Can I stay in your dorm for the day? I just want to take a nap for a bit before I go to your house. I don't want to deal with a long drive while I'm tired."

"You can stay in our room any time you want. Y'know, when you ever have a day off work. I don't think Ozpin or Lionheart would care as long as you don't cause trouble."

"I think I can do that pretty well. Not cause trouble, I mean," Shyla laughed, "So, Tyr and Ashe want to meet with Amy when we land."

"They do?" Auron asked, "Are they still talkin' this thing over?"

"Yeah. A few days of Amy not being in Mistral should've gave them time to think about it. They might give her an answer."

"I hope so. I wouldn't want her to get her hopes up if they ain't gonna actually try it."

Jace walked over to them from where he and the others were sitting and handed them both a pie that they had bought before they left. He handed Shyla a grape pie and Auron a pecan pie. "They're warmed up now. You wanted yours hotter, right?" He asked Auron.

The gunslinger nodded and took the pie from him. "Thanks. I think we might've got enough o' these to where that woman don't have to sell 'em for a few days."

"They're really good pies," Jace said, "I need to talk to Caitlyn and maybe have her send word to Calm. Maybe they can send fruits over there too. I'm gonna go sit back down now."

"Alright. We got a guest stayin' in our room, by the way."

"If that's alright with you guys too." Shyla said.

Jace nodded. "Of course. Me and Alyss are just gonna be laying down most of the day anyways."

Shyla laughed. "Sounds like a great plan."

Jace walked back over to Alyss and the others while Auron and Shyla snacked on their pies. They stayed silent as they ate, both watching out the window at the trees and railways passing by. Auron finished off his pie first and brought out one of his revolvers.

"I gotta thank you again for those parts," Auron said, breaking the pistol open with a grin, "It's good to be able to reload these fast. Saves a good amount o' time."

"You're welcome," Shyla said, "How does Preacher like his new rifle? I forgot to ask when I was at your house."

"He can't get enough of it," Auron answered and closed his pistol back up, beginning to twirl it around on his fingers, "He loves to just shoot it at targets he sets up away from the house. Pretty good gift for his birthday, I'd say. I'm pretty sure he likes you even more."

"That's good. I want to make all of your family like me since I'm dating you."

Auron grinned. "I don't think you had to try with mom."

"I'm glad. I figured the hardest to sway would be Preacher. I guess giving him a bigger gun worked wonders."

"He's been talkin' for awhile about gettin' a better gun than that ol' Savage. He's had that gun since I've been walkin'."

Shyla _hummed_ as she finished off her pie. "Something's been confusing me. Does he take his rifle on missions?"

Auron nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well... doesn't he have a suppressor or anything? I know he's loud but don't Rangers fight silently?"

"Don't worry about that. He might keep it loud when he shoots it for fun, but he's got a universal silencer he can use."

"Oh," Shyla chuckled, "I knew I forgot something when I had it made, but I guess he didn't need it."

"Oh hey, that's Shion," Auron said, looking down at a passing village, "Maybe if I had Raine's semblance, I could see down there an' see Preach."

"Pretty village from up here," Shyla remarked, "Well, a lot of things are pretty from up here. I especially like seeing foggy mountains. They just seem so mysterious."

"They're pretty cool. I like callin' em smokey mountains since it looks like smoke," Auron stopped with his revolver and laid it beside of him on the seat, "If I ever try an' reach the top of a chain of 'em, that's what I'm namin' 'em. The Great Smokey Mountains."

"Ooh that sounds so cool," Shyla said, "That would be awesome. I'd join you."

Auron smiled at that. "That'd be great."

* * *

Auron and Shyla sat themselves down in his bed when they arrived back at Haven, taking their boots and shoes off respectively. They both laid their heads back into the pillows and Auron groaned, positioning himself to where his back could be comfortable.

"You alright?" Shyla asked him.

Auron let out a huff of air through his nose. "Friggin' back an' my knees is killin' me."

"You want me to help?"

Auron shook his head. "Nah, I can wait. Go ahead an' take a nap for a bit."

Shyla laid there for a few moments, her head resting on his bicep. "Hmm... No, I think I'll help you out."

"You sure?" Auron asked, "Ain't you tired?"

"Very. But maybe it's time I be a bit more like you. Take your shirt off and turn over."

Auron sat up and did what she asked, giving a grin. "You're the only person that can order me around like this, you know."

Shyla nodded and smirked at him. "Oh I know. Now hurry up and lay on your stomach."

Auron laughed and easily complied. He laid his head in his arms as Shyla sat on his thighs, pressing her thumbs and fingers into his lower back. Auron closed his eyes at the feeling and when Shyla pressed into the right spot, he let out a deep _moan_.

"You know how good this feels?" Auron asked, "It feels fuckin' amazin'. _Damn_..."

"I know how it feels because of how much I make you moan." Shyla replied.

"Hmm. Makes me wish I could make you moan this much."

"Well, there _is_ a way." Shyla informed him.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. My lower back is kinda bothering me too. Maybe you could help?" Shyla asked sweetly.

"I'd be glad to. Just let me know when."

"I'll wait until I'm done with you. Can't stop right in the middle." Shyla said and began moving her fingers outward toward his sides.

She spent close to thirty minutes doing that, just massaging Auron's back. They shared no words as it went on, the only noises being the slight movements Shyla made on top of him and the moans of pleasure and relief coming from Auron. When Auron felt that his back was better, he told his girlfriend and she made him turn around so she could massage around his knees after rolling his pant legs up. She had her back turned to his face as she bent over slightly, giving Auron a good view of her backside.

Auron grinned at the sight. "I don't see how you think your ass is flat. May not be the most shapely or curvy or whatever, but I like it."

"Just right for you?" Shyla asked playfully.

"Exactly," Auron replied truthfully, reaching his hand up to playfully slap her butt, earning a giggle from her, "I keep catchin' Jace talkin' about Aly's an' I hear too much from Raine an' Aulin about Vivi's. You're just right for me."

"Well, you're more than just right for me," Shyla said, beginning to press lighter and lighter into his skin, "Everything you are is all I've ever wanted in someone. Not specifically your look or the way you talk, but just how you do anything to make me comfortable and happy. The last boyfriend I had just seemed like he didn't even try, so I broke up with him. That was before that night Amy was shot. I haven't tried since then but then you came along, asking for a dance," Shyla stopped pressing into his skin and just lightly rubbed it, "If I ever see him again, I need to thank General Ironwood. It's because of him I was at the dance last year."

"Yeah, I should thank 'im for that too," Auron quickly sat up and wrapped his arms around Shyla, then he pulled her down to lay on top of him as he started speaking in a soft voice, "This... I think this is what a relationship should be. No goin' too fast, no doin' what we think is uncomfortable... no accusations o' stupid shit. Just a guy an' a girl doin' what makes the other comfortable. I always wanted somethin' like this."

Shyla _hummed_ and relaxed in his arms, leaning her head back into his chest. "I never took you for a romantic type like that. I like it."

"There's a lot o' things people never take me for," Auron laughed, "A cook, a fun-lover, a bit of a romantic when I'm with you... Other things too, but I ain't namin' 'em. Now, your back's botherin' ya, right?"

Shyla nodded. "Yeah-"

A knock on the door sounded and interrupted them. "Are you decent?" They heard Jace ask outside, "I brought your food."

"We're good," Auron assured him, "Come on in.

A moment later, the door opened and Jace and Alyss came in, carrying a bowl and plate of food from the cafeteria. "Here you go. They didn't have ghost pepper, so you'll have to do without for your chili," Alyss said to Auron, "They had peaches and salad and turkey though."

Auron sighed. "The hardly have ghost pepper anymore. I guess I should be happy with chili though. And that you got everything you want, Shy."

"I can be happy with that." Shyla said.

"You want your back taken' care of first?" Auron asked her.

"Yeah... that would be nice. We can eat later."

"Whatever you want to do, I guess," Jace said, "We're gonna go hang out with Sapphire and Zack for awhile. We're taking them a couple of pies."

"What happened to just layin' down most of the day?" Auron asked.

"Who says we can't lay down in their room all day?" Alyss laughed, "See you both later."

* * *

 **AN: Okay, here's the start of the sexual content. It's not a lot, but I felt it needed a warning. I'll also have it marked when it ends.**

* * *

Jace and Alyss left the room and closed the door behind them. Auron and Shyla laid there for a few moments before Shyla pulled herself from his arms. She sat up and pulled her shirt off, tossing it to the head of the bed. Soon, she sent her bra to join it and laid on her stomach next to Auron, giving a rather sultry look.

"Ready to return the pleasure?" She asked him, sending him a wink and a small smirk.

Auron looked into her bright pink eyes with his bright auburn, giving a nod as he grinned. "Ready an' willin'."

Auron got up on his knees and straddled her thighs as she did for him, careful not to put too much weight down on her. "Tell me if I'm goin' too hard, okay?"

Shyla nodded. "I can take it. You might be surprised."

"Alright. I won't hold back too much." Auron told her and squeezed his fingers into her lower back.

As soon as she felt the pressure, Shyla immediately _moaned_ and squirmed a bit under him. "Ow! Oh, gods..."

"You alright?" Auron asked her.

""Mhmm. I-I'm fine," She turned her head and looked up at him, "Keep going."

Auron shrugged and kept the pressure on, rubbing and squeezing his fingers against her bare skin. He didn't really know how to give massages, but he just went with what he felt from Shyla. It went on for a few minutes longer as Shyla's moans began growing in volume and her body squirming under Auron. She closed her eyes at the intense pleasure and clenched the bedsheets as it went on, her boyfriend never relenting. Her feet went up in the air and she swung them back and forth, sometimes making contact with Auron's back.

Auron noticed everything going on with his girlfriend's movements and sounds and he chuckled. "I'm gonna take a _real_ wild guess an' say that your back was never hurtin' any, was it?"

"Mm-mm," Shyla _hummed_ a negative response and smirked up at him as her face grew more flushed, "Erogenous zone. Feels really good..." She took a deep breath and let it out shakingly, "D-don't stop, please."

Auron nodded and kept one hand on her as he reached for his scroll. He opened it and went to his contacts to find Jace and sent a text.

 _'You might wanna actually stay gone awhile.'_

After sending that short message, Auron tossed his scroll onto the nightstand. He brought that hand back down and massaged more vigorously, gaining an excited _squeal_ from Shyla. She raised her torso up a bit and sent her hand down her stomach to her jeans. She slipped her fingers under them and began to do a little massaging herself as she rubbed her lower lips.

"A-Aure..." She panted the nickname she called him, "O-off..."

Auron stopped with his hands and got off of her. As soon as Shyla felt no contact, she slipped her hand from her pants and quickly unbuttoned them, then Auron pulled them and her panties off in one go. He dropped them in the floor and dropped down over Shyla, pressing his body against her as they shared a lust-fueled kiss. After nearly a minute, Auron pulled back from her and sent his hand under her, beginning to squeaze his fingers into her lower back again.

"God damn, I love you." Auron said with a grin.

Shyla reached up and put her hand on the back of his head. "I-I love you too." She said and pulled him back down for another kiss.

Auron took his hand from her back and stood up to take his clothes off. First, he took his shirt off and Shyla sat up, scooting to the edge of the bed to undo his belt and unbotton his pants. She slid them down his legs and stood up, looking up into his eyes as she placed her hand over the bulge in his boxers, lightly rubbing against his member.

"We won't need any condoms now," Shyla cooed, "I'm on birth control. I wanted it to be more enjoyable for us both."

Auron grinned. "Then let's get started."

* * *

 **AN:And that's the end of the sexual content of both this chapter and the rest of the story other than really light stuff that isn't worth warning about. Here's the rest of the chapter.**

* * *

"So... why have you never told me about that?" Auron asked Shyla after they came out of the shower nearly two hours later.

"About what?" Shyla asked and sat in his bed, pulling the covers up over her body.

Auron joined her, sliding into bed next to her. "About your lower back. I coulda gave you a better time when we had sex before."

"I only recently found out about it," Shyla said, snuggling up against his body, "Well, Amy found out about it. It was the last time she had a breakdown and she was grabbing my back from under me. Her fingers dug into that spot and gods, I just melted. We kinda experimented with it that night and I realized what it was. I wanted to have you massage it and surprise you with how I reacted."

Auron laughed. "It was a surprise, alright. Pretty nice surprise too. I'm glad we didn't start before Jace an' Aly brought our..."

They both looked over to their now-cold food and started laughing. "I can't believe we forgot to eat." Auron said.

"I don't feel like moving anymore right now," Shyla groaned, "I guess I'll just be hungry."

Auron sighed and stood up out of the bed. "I'll go get it warmed up. You stay comfortable."

Shyla grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to give him a short kiss. He returned it and smiled under it before she let go. Auron got back up and put his pants and shirt on, then his boots. He grabbed the bowl and the tray of cold food and left the room to the communal kitchen of the dorms. After a few minutes, he had his chili and Shyla's turkey warmed back up and he grabbed a couple of drinks, then he went back to his room.

"Here ya go." Auron said and handed Shyla her tray after she sat up against the headboard of the bed.

Shyla took it and then she took the soda he handed her. "Thanks," She opened it and took a drink of it, "I wonder how Amy's doing right now."

"I dunno," Auron replied and sat down next to her, "Don't you have your scroll off? Maybe she texted you."

Auron took a few bites of his disappointingly-unspicy chili as Shyla turned her scroll on. When it powered up, it buzzed in her hand. She checked the message she recieved nearly an hour before and _hummed_.

"What is it?" Auron asked.

"An hour ago, Amy said for us to come see her under the tree." Shyla answered him with a bit of worry in her voice.

"I'd tell her what we were doin' so she don't think you were ignorin' her." Auron suggested.

"Yeah... I'll do that."

Shyla began typing out a message to her friend. _'I just got this, sorry. Me and Auron were pretty busy in his room. What did you need?'_

A few moments later, she recieved a reply. _'Busy, sure,'_ Amy said with a winky face, _'Everything's fine, don't worry. I just wanna tell you something in person. Kinda been waiting here for an hour, so maybe kinda hurry?'_

 _'Alright. I'm just bringing the food I neglected to eat earlier.'_

Shyla closed her scroll amd set it on the nightstand. "Amy wants us to meet her as soon as we can."

"Okay. We ain't gonna let our food get cold again, are we?" Auron asked before taking another bite of chili.

Shyla shook her head. "I'm taking mine." She said before plopping a peach into her mouth, then she began putting on her clothes.

Auron quickly finished off his chili and took a long drink of water, washing it down. When he finished with that, he sighed. "This chili ain't even a quarter as good as mom's is."

Shyla laughed and pulled her shirt over her head. "Are you gonna become a school cook now?"

"Why in the world would I do that?" Auron asked.

"So everyone else can have food as good as your mom's. Oh, maybe she could be a cook or something."

Auron let out a short laugh. "She wouldn't put up with the other cooks tryin' to change her ingredients up. I don't think we'd both make it."

When Shyla finished preparing to leave, only needing to put her jacket on, Auron heard his scroll buzz. He picked it up off the nightstand and laughed at the message he received.

"What is it?" Shyla asked as she buttoned her dark-green jacket.

"Jace asked if we were done." Auron replied with a grin.

"Oh," Shyla blushed a bit and giggled, "I guess he and Alyss are on their way back."

Auron nodded and went to type out a reply to Jace. _'Yeah, we're done. Gonna go meet Amy and then we're back here for the night so we can both actually sleep for more than three hours before I take her and Amy back to my house.'_

 _'Okay, that's fine. Just as long as you both don't stay up all night again.'_

Auron shook his head at that and shoved his scroll in his pocket. He walked over to the glass and wood doors in the back of the room and opened them up, hit in the face by the chilly weather. He walked past the chairs and small table and looked down to the ground. Their room was on the fourth floor, a decent ways to the ground. Auron looked up and saw the tree in the courtyard, seeing Amy sitting under it a distance away with Tyr and Ashe on either side of her. He went back inside, but left the doors open as he grabbed his duster to throw on.

"I got an idea if you want a quicker way down." Auron told Shyla.

"Oh really?" Shyla cocked an eyebrow, "What would that be?"

"Wanna jump down?"

Shyla just stared at him for a few moments. "...What?"

Auron laughed. "I'll hold you an' jump down off the balcony. It won't hurt ya."

"What about my food?"

"I'll ask Jace to keep it warm."

Shyla thought about it for a few moments and took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do it. I trust you."

Shyla put her scroll in her pocket and went to Auron, then they stepped onto the balcony and Auron closed the doors. He sent Jace a message to keep her food warm as Shyla looked over the edge of the balcony and gulped at how far down the ground was.

Auron put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Scared o' heights?"

Shyla shook her head. "Scared of _falling_."

"Ah," Auron kissed her on the side of the head, "Fallin' feels like flyin' if I'm bein' honest."

"Yeah, until you hit the ground." Shyla deadpanned.

"Welp, no turnin' back," Auron said and picked her up bridal style. She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, "Just relax, alright? It won't be so bad."

"I trust you," Shyla said again, "I trust you."

Auron nodded and held her tighter. He kissed her on the forehead before he jumped over the barrier, drawing his legs up to clear it. When she felt they were falling, Shyla let out a fearful _squeak_ and held Auron tighter. Auron sent his aura through his legs and arms so he would land easily and keep a tight hold on his girlfriend. They fell for a moment before Auron hit the ground, his knees bending with the impact. He and Shyla kept their grip on each other and Auron stood up fully.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Auron asked her.

"I guess not..." Shyla replied and brought her face up from Auron's shoulder.

"Wanna do it again sometime?" Auron asked with a grin.

"Not a chance in hell."

Auron laughed at the answer. "Well I won't force you to. Want down?"

"I'm tired..." Shyla said, looking into his eyes, "Carry me?"

Auron grinned even more and kissed her. "Any time, my weapon designin' princess."

Auron carried her through the courtyard to the tree that Amy was waiting under. When they drew closer, Auron noticed how close Tyr was sitting to her, and he saw the smile that Amy had on her face. He hoped that bore good news.

"It's about time!" Amy called out.

"Told you we was busy!" Auron called back.

Auron stopped in front of them all and set Shyla on the ground. She gained her footing and let out a loud yawn. "I'm never gonna get my nap today."

"Perhaps if you weren't so _busy_ , as you said," Tyr smirked, "That reminds me of Paige and Terra."

"Is that a bad thing?" Shyla asked.

"Hmm... No, it isn't a bad thing. None of you are completely focused on being _busy_ , so it is fine for all of you."

"These two don't spend a lot of time together, so I think they get a pass anyway." Ashe said.

Tyr nodded. "True."

"So, what did you want to talk about, Amy?" Shyla asked her friend, "Anything good?"

Amy smiled and nodded. "I think it's really good. We talked about everything and... Tyr and Ashe want to try a relationship with me."

"Really?" Shyla asked in surprise.

"Even if it's gonna be long distance?" Auron asked.

"We talked about that. A lot. As long as I know they're really gonna try, then I think I'll be alright." Amy replied to them both.

"We'll video chat with her when we can," Tyr added, "Text her as well. We'll help make sure she is alright."

"And... she told us about what you've done for her, Shyla," Ashe said, "How you do anything you can for her. We talked about that a lot too. It was a bit weird, but both Tyr and I decided that you both should keep doing that If Amy needs it."

"You did?" Shyla asked, "Are you both sure you're okay with it?"

"Yes, we are," Tyr assured her, "If Amy has one of those breakdowns, then we wouldn't be close to her to try to help. It obviously hasn't been a problem for Auron, so we have no problems either."

Auron nodded. "No problems from me. I got no right to stop it if it was what made Amy feel better."

"We feel the same way. We'll be so far away from her, and if we did not want Amy to be doing that, then it would be horrible if she had a breakdown. Even though we only met Amy not too long ago, we do not want her feeling that way.

"That's good," Shyla said with a huge smile, "That's really good. I'm glad you're both giving Amy a chance. It means a lot that you want to let it happen even if she would technically cheating on you."

"It's weird, but I'm sure there's something weirder out there." Ashe said.

"And it is just like how Auron sees it," Tyr gave a grin to the gunslinger, "It isn't cheating if the relationship is only open between Amy and Shyla, correct?"

Auron nodded and grinned back at him. "Exactly. So y'all got this figured out alright?"

All three of them nodded. "I really think we do," Amy said, "Thank you, Auron. Thanks for introducing us."

"Wasn't a problem, Amy. You asked, so I got you all to meet. It's good that it turned out this way."

Shyla stepped forward, bending down to hug Amy tightly. "I'm so glad you're moving forward. I hope you can live your life how you want now."

Amy returned the hug and nodded into her shoulder. "Me too, Shy. Thanks for everything, girl."

"Where are you staying tonight?"

"Well... I doubt Auron would feel like taking me to his house."

Auron shrugged. "I can make a trip there if you really want me to."

Amy shook her head. "It's okay. If they'd let me... I might stay in Tyr and Ashe's room tonight. Try that out and see how I like it."

"I have no objections," Tyr agreed to it, "It wouldn't hurt to test the waters a bit. Wouldn't you agree, Ashe?"

Ashe nodded. "Right. If Tyr and I are dating you, then we might as well try to sleep together and see how it is."

"Thank you guys." Amy thanked them as Shyla let go of her.

"I don't mean to run off, but..." Shyla _yawned_ , "I still have food waiting for me and I'm really tired. "

"Oh, that's fine," Amy assured her, "Sorry for keeping you from eating and napping, but I had to share the good news. Try not to get too busy."

"Oh trust me. I'm doing what I say this time."


	63. Epilogue Part Three

**Epilogue Part Three**

Raine and Vivi watched from the makeshift airdocks as the airship carrying their friends left for Anima. "This one thinks that Ghira should try to have actual airdocks built," Vivi said, "It would help."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want it here," Raine said and the two walked from the clearing next to Kuo Kuana, "I wouldn't want airships coming in and out of Menagerie right next to a town and bother everyone. Maybe just for emergencies. Cargo and citizen airships could go to a spot that's more central to the towns here."

Vivi grinned. "You're speaking like you live here."

Raine shrugged. "Well... I've always wanted to live here. Sure, it might be really crowded, but I don't mind that much. A few people I know can hardly come back here for end of semester breaks or summer breaks to visit unless they get lucky and get the rare airship that comes here, like what Sapphire and Inu have to do. Maybe it'll help them see their families more often."

"We can try to talk to Ghira if he would see us," Vivi suggested, "He may want to do that."

"Hmm, no, I don't think we should bother him yet," Raine replied as the two walked into the edge of town, "Right now, we should go back to your house so I can actually talk to your mom."

Vivi nodded. "Alright. She wanted to talk with us alone anyway and she didn't want us to spend less time with the others to do it. You've been coming up with some good ideas for Menagerie, you know."

Raine shrugged a bit. "I have my moments, I guess."

"I suppose you do." Vivi grinned.

They made their way through Kuo Kuana's streets, slipping past a sea of Faunus and just a few humans toward the opposite edge of town. Vivi's house wasn't exactly next to her mother's. They were both on the outside edge, but Vivi's was past the edge into the trees a small distance from her mother's. She had it built specifically for Vivi so when she was actually there, so she could relax in silence and train if she wished to. It was something Vivi was always grateful for, even if she was never there.

After close to an hour of walking slowly across town, browsing the wares of a few street vendors along the way, the Faunus lovers arrived at their destination. Vivi knocked on the door a few times and they waited for a few moments before Vivi's mother opened the door, her dark-golden eyes scanning her guests. She was six feet and one inch tall, her skin a shade darker than Vivi's. She wore a black long sleeved shirt and black, skin-tight sweatpants with a pair of black slippers on her feet. Her sleeves were rolled up, showing scarred hands and forearms and callused fingers. Her hair was black, shortened to her shoulders and it was wavy, showing a good amount of gray hairs. Her tail was black to match her hair, but it was half as long as it once was.

"Oh, hello Vivi. Hello Raine." She greeted them both with a slightly deeper voice than Vivi, her voice thick with the same accent, but still very feminine.

"Hello Nala." Raine greeted back.

"Hi mom," Vivi gave her mother a hug, "Is your day alright so far?"

Nala nodded and returned the hug. "It is. I take it your friends all left?"

"Yeah. We're staying for another day or so." Vivi answered her.

Nala nodded. "Alright. Come in, you two. I was in the middle of frying onions for myself. Would you like some?"

Raine nodded. "I would if you don't mind."

"I'm fine, thank you." Vivi said.

Nala nodded and walked inside. "Okay. Just wait in the lounge and I'll finish them up."

Raine and Vivi entered the house and went through the main hall toward the lounge. The entirety of the house was made with wood logs on the outside, but wood planks and drywall on the inside. It wasn't like most of the buildings in Menagerie, more like what could be found in the kingdom of Vale. The floor was lined in black carpets and there were lights on the walls at regular intervals, spaced out by different pictures of the family's lives. In the lounge there were multiple soft-looking chairs around the walls. In the middle near the stone fireplace was two couches and another chair with the sides under the armrests being bookshelves lined with multiple novels.

Above the fireplace was a large vidcaster and on the mantle was a display with two swords on a rack. The top on was a beautifully designed katana with designs of blue flames along the sheath. The crossguard was like fire swirling around the base of the blade and attached to the hilt was a chain that held an obsidian orb. On the rack below that one was a longsword with a pitch-black sheath with a silver tip and the area where the sword went into it was silver as well. The crossguard extended from the base of the blade a few inches before ending in small crosses on each end. The hilt was half silver and half black and from the pommel was a chain with a golden-orange orb.

Raine looked at them both as she sat down. "Who's swords are those?" She asked Vivi.

"The longsword is mom's. _Azure Night_. The katana was my father's. _Azure Blaze_." Vivi answered."

"Matching names?" Raine grinned a bit, "Is that what brought your parents together?" She asked lightly.

Vivi chuckled shortly. "That _may_ have been a reason. Mom retired shortly after he passed away. She put both of their blades together here and she doesn't want them to be separated for anything. They match in more ways than one," Vivi stood from the couch and stepped over to the mantle, lightly grabbing hold of _Azure Blaze_. She carefully unsheathed it and revealed a blade of deep-blue tinted steel, "Both of them have azure-colored blades..." She took a deep breath and resheathed the blade, lightly setting it back on the display, and she walked back to sit next to Raine.

"Hearing mom's stories always made this one want to follow in their footsteps, but do something more too," Vivi gave a small sigh as she looked up toward the heavens, "I worked on becoming a Ranger to make dad proud of me."

"It was before our last mission that I found out I was pregnant with Vivi..." Nala entered the lounge with two small bowls of fried onions. She handed one to Raine and sat down in her chair with the other, "I kept it from Indigo because I didn't wish for him to worry over me. We had no way of knowing that it would be his last."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Nala," Raine said sadly, her ears pressing to her scalp a bit, "I never knew he passed before Vivi was born."

"Don't be sorry, Raine," Nala gave a small smile, "We lived and loved for the entire time we were together. I'll always be happy to have his Mark on my shoulder, even if it is barely noticeable now," She brought her hand up to her right shoulder where a barely visible Mark was, in the shape of white lotus flower, "That was a hard battle. We were fighting against a Goliath and five Alpha Beowulves. It was also when I lost half of my tail. I was focusing a great amount of my aura to my stomach to protect our child and it left everything else more vulnerable. My back and arms are marred with so many scars from that battle."

"You know, Alyss can heal injuries," Raine said, "She wouldn't mind-"

Nala raised her hand up and stopped her. "I appreciate the thought, Raine. I truly do, but these scars are what I earned as I fought side by side with Indigo. To me, it shows the dedication and loyalty I had to him, to protect him as he protected me."

Raine nodded slowly. "I know you _did_ , but it sounds like you really loved him."

"I still do," Nala sighed and set her bowl on the small table next to her. She rose from the chair and walked over to the mantle, grabbing _Azure Night_. She sat back down with it and unsheathed it, revealing its deep-blue blade with multiple notches in the edge, "This notch here," She pointed to a large one toward the base of the blade, "It was from our first sparring match with each other. Until I mated with Indigo, I never truly knew why I never tried to fix it..." She laid the blade across her lap and gave a happy smile at the memories.

"This one wishes she could have met him," Vivi said, noticing the tears forming in her mother's eyes, "She always wanted to make him proud."

"I don't doubt that you have," Nala assured her, "It wasn't until after that battle that he succumbed to his wounds. They were too great to tend to and there was no time to take him to the closest village for treatment... Our team and I tried our best, but it wasn't good enough," She looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath, blinking away tears from her eyes. She looked back down and ran her callused fingers over the length of her sword, "It was when he was laying in my arms that I told him I was pregnant. I expected a look of shock or worry or even anger that I kept it from him, but he gave the happiest smile that he had ever had since we mated. He told me that no matter what, make sure our child has a happy life and make sure he or she is happy."

"And I am," Vivi said, laying her hand on Raine's thigh, "I think you would have given him peace with that."

Nala nodded and sheathed her old sword. "At first, I may not have agreed with you being with a person so much younger than you. But seeing you for the first time in two years, seeing that smile as you held Raine's hand... It made me so happy. Hearing you laugh with her, seeing you smile with her, and be comfortable around her made me the happiest I've felt in years."

Raine felt her expression lift at hearing that. "I may be young... but I'll make Vivi happy no matter what. I'm glad that you accept me as her girlfriend."

"And I love her more than anything," Vivi added with passion in her voice, "She has a fire in her that lifts me up and gives me the courage to face whatever my life puts in front of me. I can never wait until I can be with her again after a long mission. I can never wait until I can actually hold her and tell her about what mission I just completed. I can just never wait to see her face to face and not over a video call. Just knowing I have her to return to makes me so, so happy."

Nala smiled at her daughter's short, heartfelt speech and went to replace her sword where it belonged. She sighed as if something had been lifted off of her and tears finally fell down the valleys of her cheeks. "That's everything that I wanted to hear, cub."

* * *

After staying at Nala's home for two hours, Raine and Vivi walked through the forest path to the latter's home. They carried multiple spare cooking utensils that Nala let them borrow to cook dinner for themselves. Vivi had already bought something to fix up for them both, so they had everything they needed. Raine thought back to what she heard Vivi say and smiled more each second she had it on her mind. Raine felt a deeper feeling of love for the cat Faunus when she heard the amount of passion and love in her voice. It was that feeling that truly let her know that she wanted to be Vivi's mate.

They arrived at Vivi's home and entered. The house was only one story, made with the exact same materials as Nala's. Inside, all of the rooms connected around the center where the fireplace and chimney were. In the living room where they entered, there was one couch to the right in front of one window and in front of the window on the other wall was a love seat, both of them facing the fireplace. From there, they walked through the guest bedroom and into the kitchen and set the utensils down on the table next to the wall. Just past the oven was the entrance to Vivi's room and before that was the entrance to the other room, which was completely barren except for the sleeping bags and air mattresses that Vivi had yet to return to her storage in the attic.

Raine and Vivi worked together to prepare a meal of chicken stew and a few small loaves of bread to use for bowls, something that they had learned from Kathy. It was still fairly early in the day when they had everything cooking and baking. For the next few hours, they made periodic checks to their food and returned to the living room to watch what was on the vidcaster in the corner next to the barren room. When the meal was ready to eat at seven in the evening, they hollowed out a bread bowl each and poured some stew into them, keeping the entire thing on plates in case they spilled out. They retreated to Vivi's room where the bed was in the middle under a small window. To the left was a small computer on a desk against the wall separating her room from the kitchen and past that was the door that led outside to the training yard.

That room was what held all of Vivi's old belongings and decorations. To the right of the door was a dresser with a mirror and a small shelf next to the mirror, holding multiple pictures of both Vivi and her mother, and a few of her mother and father. On the opposite end of the dresser was another vidcaster with a small refrigerator next to it, holding drinks and snacks.

Raine and Vivi sunk down into the bed and ate as they watched a movie that Vivi had laying around. It was a horror where people were being haunted in their dreams by a man with a burned face that could kill them through their nightmares. It was one they had watched more than once in their lives, but enjoyed it because of how interesting it was.

"You don't just have your moments, you know." Vivi said suddenly, finishing up the last of her bread bowl.

"What do you mean?" Raine asked in confusion.

"What you said earlier when I said you had great ideas for Menagerie. You're a very smart girl," Vivi declared and reached out to lightly hold Raine's hand, setting her plate on her nightstand, "It wasn't _just_ a moment when you suggested to Remington that Rangers should be assigned here. It was a great idea that no other Ranger thought of, not even me. It could change everything for the better here. And that goes for the airdocks idea too. I brought that up, but you talked so much about it..." Vivi smiled widely at Raine, rubbing her hand with her thumb, "You don't give yourself enough credit sometimes. You gave the best idea for Menagerie that nearly anyone ever has."

Raine blushed at the praise and put her empty plate on the nightstand on her side of the bed with her drink, then she leaned her head into Vivi's shoulder. "You really think I'm that smart?"

Vivi nodded immediately. "You're brilliant, Raine. You... You are who this one wants. You are who she wants for life..." Vivi's smile dropped a bit as Raine slowly looked up into her eyes, but she meant everything she said, "You are who this one wants to be mated with."

Raine's eyes widened more and more as she stared into Vivi's golden eyes. "You do?" She asked, holding Vivi's hand tighter.

Vivi nodded. "I do. I mean it."

Raine's voice caught in her throat as her eyes grew blurry. She let go of Vivi's hand and crawled up the bed a bit on her hands and knees, putting her face right in front of Vivi's. "Y-you really do?"

Vivi nodded again, more slowly this time. "I really mean it. I love you, Little Fox."

Raine gulped at the confession and felt her heart beat hard in her chest. In the near-silence of the room, she guessed that Vivi could actually hear it. Raine pushed herself forward and planted a soft kiss to Vivi's lips, one that was returned just as softly as Vivi wrapped her arms around the smaller Faunus' body. Raine melted in the embrace and slipped her arms around Vivi's shoulders and head, pulling herself closer. A few moments later, their lips separated and they just stared into each other's eyes. Raine's light-red eyes shined brightly with unshed tears as Vivi's mirrored hers.

"So..." Vivi started, putting a hand on the back of Raine's head and running her fingers through the deep-red tresses , "Does that mean you feel the same way?" She asked, giving a small smirk.

Raine's only response was to kiss her again. She held it for a few moments and then separated. "I-is that enough of an answer?" Raine asked.

Vivi nodded, chuckling. "It's the best this one could have ever hoped for."

* * *

The next morning, the sunlight came through the window onto the two Faunus. Raine was the first to awake in her lover's embrace, finding herself not wanting to pull herself from Vivi's arms. Raine looked down from her her face to her shoulder, seeing exactly what she hoped to see. A dark bruise on her shoulder. Raine closed her eyes and focused hard. She could see it. She saw her dark-gray aura in the bruise. She was extremely happy at seeing it, then she decided to send her aura out towards it. She took a sharp intake of breath when she reached the aura.

 _Love. Excitement. Belonging. Happiness_.

"Y-you're almost always excited. That isn't new..." Raine gulped and smiled widely. "I'm so damn glad this isn't a dream." She whispered to herself.

"Mmm... So am I." Vivi said sleepily.

"Did you feel it?" Raine asked, "When I touched the aura in your shoulder?"

Vivi nodded and opened her eyes, looking at her lovingly. "I did. It felt amazing. Can you feel mine?" She asked and closed her eyes.

After a moment, Raine shuddered at the sensation she felt in her Mark. "O-oh... I feel it."

Vivi opened her eyes again and smiled, beginning to _purr_ deeply. "This one is so happy to have you in her life."

Raine smiled back and softly kissed her. "I'm happy to have you in mine too, Big Kitty."

Vivi leaned her head down, lightly rubbing it against Raine's shoulder. "What are our plans for the day?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't mind laying here all day."

"Neither would I, but..." Vivi took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I want to let mom know. And... I want to visit my father's grave."

Raine nodded. "We can do that. I think I'll wait until we go back to Haven before I let the others know."

Slowly, the two pulled out of each other's arms and began to get dressed. The night before was completely unlike any other time the two made love. There was hardly any scratching and biting, and no clothes were torn for quicker access to anything. It was pure and careful passion they shared, both of them taking every moment at a slow pace. It was a serious moment and they didn't want anything pulling them out of it, not even those urges.

Soon, they headed out the door after Raine grabbed a bag of black walnuts from the refrigerator. They both snacked on them as they walked slowly toward town. They had also took the extra loaves of bread and stew with them to give to Nala. It seemed even more peaceful than the day before. It was in that bit of peace that Raine thought of something they should have discussed before the night before.

"What are we gonna do?" Raine asked quietly, "The Mark will fade out in a week. We can reapply it before you go back to work, but... what about after?"

Vivi _hummed_ at the question. "We need to stop by Ghira's. He has access to the only signal strong enough to get an actual call out to everywhere else. We need to call Remington soon."

"I don't want this to fade out..." Raine said sadly.

"It _won't_ ," Vivi assured her, "This one will make sure of it."

They arrived at the door to Nala's home thirty minutes later. Before Vivi even knocked on it, the door opened to reveal Nala, smiling widely at Vivi and Raine. She stepped out and wrapped Vivi in a tight embrace.

"Oh Vivi... I'm so happy for you," She said with tears of happiness falling from her eyes, "Indigo would be as well. I know it."

Vivi returned the hug and her eyes began to well up. "Thank you, mom."

Nala took an arm from Vivi and pulled Raine into the hug. "Keep my cub happy, Raine. Welcome to our family."

"I'll do my best to, Nala. I won't be happy unless she is." Raine replied.

They all shared that embrace for close to two minutes in silence before Nala spoke up. "Are you both leaving today?"

"No, not today," Vivi answered, "I've never visited dad's grave since I was a little cub... We were going to after we go to see if we can use Ghira's signal to call Remington."

Nala nodded. "Okay. It's been awhile since I've visited him as well... I think I'll join you."

* * *

After eating a small breakfast at Nala's, the three Faunus made their way through town to Ghira and Kali's home. Many people greeted Nala kindly, considering she was rarely seen out these days, only for groceries and other things. She greeted them back with a small smile and a nod and they eventually made it to their destination. They walked up the stairs, stepping up to the large doors of the chieftan's home. Vivi grabbed the large knocker and hit it against the door three times, the sound reverberating in the immediate area.

After a few moments, one of the doors came open slowly and a figure dressed in black and red clothes appeared. "Oh, hey Raine!" Ruby greeted excitedly, "Hi Vivi. Who's this?"

"My name is Nala," Nale introduced herself, "Vivi's mother. Who are you?"

"I'm Ruby. Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"How long have you been here?" Raine asked.

"Four days. Why?"

"We must have just been going out at different times then," Raine replied, "We never knew you guys were here. All the others just left yesterday."

"Really? It would've been fun to hang out," Ruby shrugged a bit, "It's alright though."

Nala tilted her head a bit. "Forgive me for prying, but why is a human teenager in the chieftan's home?"

"Ruby, who is it!? A voice sounded out.

Ruby smiled. "That's why," She turned around, "Hey Blake! Raine's here!" She called back.

"She's dating Ghira's daughter." Vivi said with a grin.

Nala's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh that's interesting."

Blake appeared in the doorway in a white button-up shirt and black pants, wearing a smile on her face. "Congratulations, you two."

"Thank you, Blake." Both Raine and Vivi said with smiles.

"Umm..." Ruby started.

Blake put a hand on her shoulder. "They're mated, Ruby."

"Ohhh," Ruby smiled back at the Faunus, "I'm happy for you both."

"Thank you both," Vivi said, "Is Ghira here? I need to use the amplifier here to call Remington. It"s very important."

"He's not here," Blake told her, "He took mom grocery shopping, but you can come in and use it."

"Thank you, Blake. I appreciate it."

Blake led Raine and Vivi inside and up the stairs as Nala stayed in the main Room with Ruby. Blake slid open the wood and paper door to Ghira's study and went to the wall near his desk, a solid wood wall. She pressed in, then slid open a door to reveal a large electronic device nearly as tall as Blake herself.

"Dad told me he rarely uses this. Only for emergencies because it takes a good amount of power from the house," Blake explained and flipped a few switches, causing the lights in the home to flicker before growing a bit darker, "It's not the best, but it's all dad could get with our connections to the other continents. It'll let you talk to whoever you need to. What exactly is the emergency?"

"It's about us being mated," Raine answered her, "With how Vivi's a full-fledged Ranger and I'm still in Beacon, she could be put on a mission for months at a time and the Mark at this stage only lasts a week."

Oh..." Blake nodded, "That _does_ need figured out. I think dad would understand the need for this."

"Thank you, Blake," Vivi said and bowed her head, "It may seem simple, but... this means a lot that you're helping."

"Oh no, this is a very serious thing. You don't have to thank me," Blake smiled and went to the door, "I'm happy to help you straighten this out with your boss. I'll let you both talk to him alone."

Blake left the two alone, sliding the door shut as she went out of the room. Raine and Vivi sat down on the couch and Vivi went to call Remington.

Raine took a short breath and gulped a bit. "I'm gonna call mom and dad after we talk to Remington. I really want to let them know."

"I want to too," Vivi said, "Are you gonna call Emowyn and Gilan?"

Raine shook her head. "I'll let that be a surprise for them."

"Hello Vivi. Are you enjoying your vacation?" They heard Remington greet Vivi, answering the call.

"Hello sir, it's going fine," Vivi greeted back, "Well... that would be a bit of a lie. It's wonderful."

"That's good to hear. Are you ready to go back to work?"

"Not yet, but next week. I'm going to put this on speaker so Raine can talk too."

"Still with Raine?" Remington laughed, "You've been with her just about every day since the tournament started, haven't you?"

"I have." Vivi replied and set it to speaker.

"Hello, Remington," Raine greeted, "Sorry for keeping Vivi from watching Beacon."

Remington laughed again, a bit lighter this time. "It's fine as long as you're both enjoying your time together."

"We really are." Raine said.

"Remington, I'm going to have to stop taking missions for awhile. I don't know for how long." Vivi told her commandant.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Remington asked softly.

"No, nothing's wrong at all. In fact, everything is _right_ ," Vivi cleared her throat, "Last night, Raine and I put our Marks on each other. We're mated."

"Ah, that makes sense." Remington said.

"At this stage, it will fade out in a week if it isn't reapplied. And if I'm on a mission, I wont be able to be with Raine to do that."

"You don't have to say anything else, Vivi. I'll let you take this how you think you need to take this. You'll still have to watch over Beacon and Vale, but you don't have to go on missions."

Both Vivi and Raine sighed in relief. "Thank you, Remington. We appreciate it."

"Where are you calling from, anyways?"

"In Kuo Kuana. We had to use Ghira's signal amplifier. It was a bit of an emergency."

"Oh good. Tell him that we'll have a Gathering next week and we'll have Rangers in Menagerie by the week after."

"Will apprentices have to go?" Raine asked.

"No, and Vivi doesn't need to either," Remington told them, "Was that everything you needed?"

"That was it. Thank you again. I'll tell Ghira before we leave." Vivi told him.

"Okay. I'm going to let you go now. And congratulations to the both of you."

"Thank you." Both Vivi and Raine said and the call was ended.

Both of them once again let out sighs of relief. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, huh?" Raine said with a smile.

Vivi returned the smile and kissed her. "Looks that way and it sounds great."

Raine nodded. "Couldn't ask for a better boss."

"I don't believe we could."


	64. Epilogue Part Four

**AN: Extremely late last chapter. Today has just been an ass to me.**

 **Epilogue Part Four**

In the next weeks, school had started back up and every student returned to their respective academies. Schoolwork had been rather lax for awhile, which gave Alyss time to think very deeply in her team's dorm room. She wanted to actually see him again. She wanted to see her father. She tapped her pencil against her paper repeatedly for almost ten minutes straight before Jace put his hand over hers, stopping it.

"I can feel you thinking _really_ hard," Jace said and looked at her, "What's on your mind, dear?"

Alyss set her pencil down on her desk and put her head in her other hand. "I think I actually want to go see my father."

Jace felt his body tense up. "You sure about that?"

"That's the thing. I don't know," Alyss sighed, "I know I said I never wanted to see him ever again, but that was before I knew what I know now."

"How do you plan on doin' that?" Auron asked from his desk, "We're kinda in the middle o' schoolwork."

"I know that, but... I can't focus," Alyss picked her pencil back up and went to erase all the little marks she put on the paper, "I can't even remember what I was gonna write as an answer on this."

"Maybe you should go, then," Raine suggested, putting her pencil down to give her full attention, "It's not a good idea to keep something like this in your mind and have it distract you."

"Let's call Lilith," Jace said, "We can ask her if she wants to go too. And dad said he wanted to go if she decided so she would feel safe."

After a few moments, Alyss nodded and picked her scroll up. She walked over to the window, standing right next to the glass and she searched for her mother's name in her contacts. She called and waited for a few moments as she leaned her head against the window.

"Hi cub. Is everything alright?" Lilith asked Alyss.

"Hi mama... I've been thinking a lot on something." Alyss answered her.

"You must _have_ if you called me that," Lilith remarked, "What is it, honey?"

"Well... I want to... talk to him." Alyss said quietly.

Lilith was silent for a few moments as she went over those few words in her head. "You want to see Idris?"

"Y-yeah... I think I do. I can't focus on homework right now because of me thinking about it and Raine said that it might be best to do it and get it out of my head."

"Are you sure you want to, Aly?" Lilith asked, "I won't try to talk you out of it if you truly want to."

Alyss was quiet for almost a minute as she thought it over. "Y-yes... I want to see him."

She heard Lilith take a deep breath. "Okay. I'll call and tell Haile. He wanted to go with us if we went."

"Jace told me that. We need to talk to Ozpin too so he can hopefully let us all go."

"I take it Jace is going too?"

"Yeah. I doubt he would want me to talk to Idris without him being there."

"No." Jace said from his desk.

Lilith laughed a bit. "I heard him. I'll go ahead and call Haile. I love you, dear."

"I love you too, mom."

They ended the call and Alyss set her scroll on the table. She closed her eyes for a few moments as she thought to herself. "No turning back now." She said to the others.

"If you can go, then we'll cover your schoolwork," Raine said, "Can't have you fall behind."

Alyss smiled, opening her eyes up again. "Thanks."

"Do you want to call Ozpin for a meeting?" Jace asked her.

"I will, just give me a minute. I just still need to gather my thoughts again."

Jace stood up from his desk and walked over to her. He softly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. "Take your time, Kitten."

"If ya want, I can go cook some fish your you." Auron offered.

Alyss _hummed_. "You can if you want. You don't have to."

Auron nodded and set his pencil down. "I'll be back in a bit."

Auron left the room and Alyss sat down at the table, joined by Jace. She picked her scroll up and went to call Ozpin. It didn't take long for the headmaster to answer the call.

"Hello miss Wystar. Or... would that be Reznor, now?" Ozpin asked, showing a bit of humor in his voice.

"Still Wystar, sir. I'm not taking Jace's last name until our Mark goes in it's final stage." Alyss told him.

"Ah. What can I do for you?"

"Can I go talk to you in person about something?" Alyss asked him nervously, "I'd rather not ask over a call."

"Hmm..." Ozpin _hummed_ a bit, "I am in a meeting right now, but you sound as if you are troubled. I can see you now, if you'd like."

Alyss gulped a bit. "Th-that would be best. Thank you, sir. I hope I'm not interrupting something important."

"It isn't any trouble, miss Wystar. I'll see you soon."

The call was ended and Alyss stood from the table. "I'm going to meet with Ozpin... N-now."

Jace stood up with her. "He can already meet with you?"

"He said for me to come even since he's meeting with someone." Alyss said.

Raine picked her pencil up and continued with her work. "I'll finish this up and finish yours too. Sound good?"

Alyss tilted her head. "How are you gonna do that? We write completely differently."

Raine grinned. "Oh, it's just something else that apprentice Rangers are taught."

"Okay... Thanks then, Raine."

"Don't mention it. I have nothing to do but wait until Vivi gets here, so I might as well do this."

Alyss and Jace put their shoes on and left the room. After a short walk, they arrived at Beacon tower and entered, going straight to the elevator. Alyss put her scroll up to the panel and the doors opened, letting them step inside. When it started its ascent, elevator music started playing softly in the speaker in the corner. Alyss did her best to tune it out, but it still annoyed her.

"I used to like elevator music," She said halfway through the ride, "I don't know why I think it's annoying now."

Jace shrugged. "I wouldn't know a reason. I've always not liked it. Best things to listen to are my music and your voice."

Despite the nervousness in her system, Alyss giggled. "Your sap is so sweet and I love it."

Jace chuckled and leaned his head over, kissing the base of her cat ear. "If it cheers you up, then I'll give you all the sappiness as I can."

The elevator reached the top and the doors slid open with a ding. They stepped into the room and paused when they saw General Ironwood, flanked by his specialist Winter Schnee. In front of Ozpin leaning back in a chair in a carefree manner was a man with black hair and short stubble, looking at them with crimson-red eyes.

"Oh. It's _you_." Qrow scoffed toward Jace.

Jace sighed. "Don't be mad at me because you didn't listen."

"What are you two going on about?" Ozpin asked, cocking an eyebrow at them, "Qrow, why do you have an attitude toward one of my students?"

Qrow grumbled and shook his head. "We butted heads on somethin' on Patch awhile ago during their summer break."

"I beat him in a drinking contest," Jace said, crossing his arms, "He didn't take my warnings."

"You... challenged a minor to a drinking contest?" Winter asked in disbelief, glaring and scowling at Qrow.

"He said he couldn't get drunk, I called him out on it," Qrow replied, "He wasn't lying. My niece is never gonna let me live it down."

"Careless fool." Winter growled.

"Before this gets out of hand," Ironwood spoke up, stopping the retort from Qrow, "I believe the reason these two are here needs to be adressed." He said, nodding to Jace and Alyss.

"Right you are, James," Ozpin agreed, looking back to Alyss and Jace, "Please, come sit down."

The two mates did as he said and walked to his desk, taking the free seats that were there. "I'm not interrupting anyrhing important, am I?" Alyss asked.

"Nothing that can't wait for a few minutes, I assure you," Ozpin told her, "We were only speaking of the new railway system in the works. The General wants to have his robots take the charge of protecting the construction. But, that isn't your issue. James, Qrow, Winter, could you three give us a moment?"

Qrow and Ironwood nodded. "Whatever. I'll be waiting at the bottom," Qrow said and began walking off, but stopped next to Jace, "Hey," He said, holding his fist out, "Good win."

Jace grinned a bit and bumped his own fist into his. "At least we knew how to get to Tai's house and we didn't have to leave you anywhere."

Qrow chuckled and walked on. "We will wait at the bottom as well, "Ironwood said and stepped next to Jace, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Haile told me that you and Alyss were mated while her mother was in Atlas. I'm happy for you, Jace. You deserve this happiness."

Jace smiled. "Thank you, sir. Auron wanted to thank you too, by the way."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow. "What would he have me to thank for?"

"For having Shyla meet you at the dance," Alyss answered him, "They've been dating since summer break."

Ironwood hesitated a moment before clearing his throat. "Hm, well, tell him I am glad it turned out well for them both."

"We will, sir."

Ironwood left with Winter following behind him to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, with the sounds of Qrow bickering with Winter muted, Ozpin addressed the students. "I assume not being able to be intoxicated is a sideaffect of your infusion?" He asked Jace.

Jace nodded. "Yeah. It's one of the better things about it next to being a heater and an air conditioner for my friends. I get to taste so much things without worrying about getting drunk."

Ozpin chuckled. "I would assume so. Now, what did you need, miss Wystar?"

"If you would let us... me and Jace want to go to Vacuo for a few days with our parents." Alyss told him.

Ozpin's eyebrows furrowed a bit. "Why do you wish to return?"

"I..." Alyss breathed deeply, "I want to see my father."

Ozpin's eyebrows raised up in shock. "Are you sure? Even after what he has done to you and Lilith?"

Alyss nodded. "After what mom told me with how he turned the way he did... I just want to talk to him. Maybe talk sense into him if I can for mom's sake..."

"If it is something you feel you need to do, then I will let you be excused from classes until you return," Ozpin said, "You may leave whenever you wish. I will inform the other professors when you do."

Alyss bowed her head to him. "Thank you, sir."

Ozpin looked over to Jace, who had been silent since Ironwood left. "How do you feel about this, mister Reznor?"

Jace frowned. "I don't really like it, but Alyss wants to do it to get it off her mind, so we're going."

Ozpin nodded at the answer. "I hope this goes well for you, Alyss. If that is all, you may be dismissed. Please tell the others to return here, if you wouldn't mind."

They nodded and stood up, then walked to the elevator. Alyss called it up and after thirty seconds, it arrived and opened. They stepped inside and rode it back down to ground level. It went by mostly in silence other than the music from the speaker. When the elevator stopped, Jace opened his mouth to speak, but the doors opened to yelling.

"If you ask me, you shouldn't have a stick shoved so far up your damn ass all the time!" Qrow shot at Winter with a smirk on his face.

"How dare you!" Winter yelled back, "I happen to have class in my actions, unlike you! If you would stay sober for more than one second, then perhaps you would-!"

She noticed the elevator was open and noticed the students slowly stepping out. "Umm... O-Ozpin says you all can go back up." Alyss said quietly, her ears flattened out.

Winter cleared her throat and turned away from Qrow. "Thank you. I apologize if I damaged your ears, miss."

"It's okay," Alyss said to her "C'mon, Jace. Let's get out of their way."

Alyss glanced to Jace and saw his ears were flattened out as well, and she saw his eyes were halfway slitted. "Yeah... Let's go."

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want us to come in too?" Sapphire asked Alyss outside the jail in Vacuo.

"Are you sure you even want to do this?" Haile asked.

Alyss nodded to both questions. "I'm sure."

Lilith wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach. "I-I'm not so sure..."

"He can't do anything to us, mom," Alyss assured her, "He's in a cell and we'll be sitting where he can't reach," She looked back to the others, "Thank you guys for coming with us."

"Of course, Aly," Heath said, "If we hear anything wrong in there, we're coming in."

"You won't have to worry about that," Jace assured them, "If he tries to reach for Alyss or mom in a bad way, then I'm breaking his arms."

"I'm holding you to that, Jace," Zack said, a deep frown on his face, "He doesn't even deserve to see Alyss or mom again, let alone talk."

"I just hope you aren't makin' a mistake by doin' this," Barrett said, a look of discomfort on his face, "It's gonna be real uncomfortable for you. Even I can tell that."

Alyss nodded. "It already is, but I'm not backing out. We're gonna go inside now and get this over with."

Sapphire gave Alyss a tight hug. "Good luck in there, Aly."

After Alyss and Lilith shared a hug with Sapphire, Zack, and Heath, they went inside the jailhouse and walked through the halls. They stopped at the front desk and Lilith told the officer that they were there to see Idris Calico. The man nodded and showed them through the building to the cell where the man laid in bed. He was five feet and nine inches tall, a thinner man with thin arms and legs, thinner than what his outfit would suggest. He wore a tan outfit of a shirt and pants with black shoes, and around his neck was an aura-suppressing collar. His head was covered in ash-blonde hair, ragged and unkempt. His face was gaunt and his eyes were dark-rimmed.

He noticed who stopped in front of his cell and he let out a shocked gasp, quickly sitting up in bed. "L-Lilith? Alyss? Wh-what are you both doing here?"

"Oh Oum, Idris! What happened to you!?" Lilith exclaimed, quickly stepping up to the cell. He should have had ears of a cat on top of his head, but they were gone, cut off near the base.

Idris looked down and sighed. "After what I did to you... why do you care?"

"Because you were my mate..." Lilith cringed at seeing how ragged the wounds looked, "What happened?"

"I... had a lot of time to think while I was in prison. The White Fang played to my resentment of some humans. They made me believe that all humans were truly against us Faunus. And I carried that with me to our home..." Idris choked back a sob and dropped to his knees in front of them all, "I-It wasn't you who didn't deserve to be Faunus... It was me. I grabbed a guard's knife and... a-and I cut my own ears off like I tried to do to you and Alyss. I-I don't deserve to be a Faunus after what I've done to you both..."

"Idris..." Alyss stepped forward and knelt down in front of him, and Jace was right behind her, "Even if you think that, you shouldn't have cut your ears off."

Idris looked up at her and shook his head. "I have no pride in myself anymore, Alyss... I gave that up when I first hit you and Lilith. Wh-why did you both even come here...? I'm not worth the trouble."

"Because mom told me the White Fang fed you lies," Alyss told him, "After she told me the truth of what happened to you, I wanted to see you again and try to talk sense into you, but... I didn't expect this..."

What Alyss expected to see when she saw her father was a vindictive, bitter, and angry Faunus. But what she saw was a sad, broken, and lonely man that actually seemed sorry for everything he had done.

"For what you did... I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you," Alyss told him quietly, "I can never see you as my father. I can't love you..."

Idris nodded numbly. "I understand... I-I can't ask you both to forgive me. I don't deserve it. I can't ask you both to give me another chance. I'm so s-sorry for everything..."

"Oh gods, Idris..." Lilith sunk down to her knees and sobbed, "Wh-why did it have to be this way with you..."

"Y-you both left Vacuo, didn't you?" Idris asked them.

Lilith nodded and looked down. "Y-yes, we did. We didn't feel safe."

Idris felt himself flinch at the words. "Then... maybe..." He hesitated and kept his mouth shut.

"You think it was for the best?" Alyss asked him.

Idris nodded slowly. "Yes... You found your mate, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I did. We... think the same way."

Idris looked at her in surprise. "Both you and Lilith do?"

"We do. It's because I found my mate that me and mom think so."

"If... I-if it means anything from me... I'm happy that you found someone after what I've done. I hope he's made you feel safe."

Alyss nodded. "He has. And thank you."

Idris looked up at Jace and sighed. "Do what I failed to do... Protect her."

"I don't need _you_ to tell me that." Jace replied briskly.

"I should have guessed. And... who is this?" Idris asked, noticing the Huntsman leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed, looking like he was ready to act on anything.

"This is Haile Reznor, Jace's dad." Alyss answered him.

"Jace...?" Idris asked.

"Me." Jace said.

"Ah... And you're his father?" Idris asked Haile in confusion, "I guess adoptive?"

Haile nodded. "I took him in off the street in Atlas."

"Hmm..." Idris looked down, "You're a better man than me."

"He... is actually the one that made me feel safe," Lilith said lowly, "I met him and he became my best friend."

"He did?" Idris asked, "A-are you both..."

Lilith shook her head. "No, we aren't together. Everything you've done ruined relationships for me... I don't believe I can ever love anyone like that again."

"I'm sorry..."

"This... is actually going completely different than what I thought it would," Jace remarked, "It's better, though."

"I can only imagine what you thought would happen," Idris took a shuddering breath and spoke past the dryness in his throat, "I never expected to see you both again... I could never hope to after what I've done, but... here you are, talking with a broken, disgraced, shameful and poor excuse for a Faunus. I don't even deserve to see you both..."

"I-Idris," Lilith spoke up in a pained voice, "C-come here..." She said and scooted closer to the cell bars.

Idris hesitated and slowly complied, inching closer to the bars. Soon, he and Lilith were mere inches apart, looking into each other's eyes. Lilith's bright-emerald into Idris' deep-sapphire. Lilith slowly reached through the bars and put her arms around him, pulling him and herself close to the bars. She hugged him tightly for the first time in years, breaking down in tears at seeing what's become of the man she once loved. Idris hesitated even more in the embrace, his emotions threatening to take control over him as tears trailed down his cheeks. He slowly reached up and put his arms through the bars and put them around Lilith, lightly returning the hug. After a few moments, he began to cry freely, putting his head against the bars.

"I-I'm s-sorry for everything, Lilith," Idris cried, "I-I ruined my life and I-I a-almost drug you both down with me... I-I'm so s-sorry..."

"Idris..." Lilith spoke in a soft, shaky voice, "I've missed you. I've missed the man you used to be. B-but... I-I don't know if I can forgive you either... You hurt our daughter so much and almost took away her ears. A parent should never make their child feel fear."

"I know..." Idris agreed, "I f-failed both of you. I-I failed as a mate and I f-failed as a father. I don't deserve forgiveness."

Alyss felt her voice catch in her throat at seeing and hearing her father now, looking and sounding more pitiful than before. She wanted to see him and say so many things, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She dropped down to her knees right beside Lilith and reached both of her hands up to his head, placing them over Idris' ears. He flinched at the contact and looked up at her.

"I don't deserve it, Alyss..." He told her, "Don't waste your gift on me."

"Idris, stop," Alyss said strongly, "You shouldn't have cut off your ears. No matter what you did, it hurts me to see another Faunus do that to themselves. It hurts to think it could've been me or mom that you did this to. I'm going to grow them back and I want you to never try to cut them off again. If nothing else, then promise us that you won't do it again for mom's sake."

Idris sighed and nodded shortly. "If you want to, then I won't try to stop you..."

Alyss' hands immediately began to glow purple as she used her semblance. "I wanted to say so much to you... I wanted to yell at you for what you did to mom," She said and very lightly pressed her palms over the base of his mangled ears, cupping them, "I wanted to punch you so hard for every time I saw you hit her."

"I-I wouldn't blame you if you did..."

"If it wasn't for us, Jace and Haile would already try." Lilith said lightly.

Jace grunted. "I'm sorry, but I already don't like that they're this close to you," He said to Idris, "I'd rather them be a few feet away where I know they're safe."

"Jace," Alyss looked back at him with a small look of anger in her eyes, "Don't start with that, please. This isn't the time."

Jace's face lightened to an apologetic look. "Sorry, Alyss..." He said and stayed silent.

Idris sighed. "He's right to think that way. I wouldn't trust me either."

"He may be, but this isn't the time," Alyss said, "Now just calm down and relax."

Idris nodded a bit and everyone was silent as Alyss kept her hands on Idris' head. He closed his eyes at the feeling as Lilith lightened her embrace so she wouldn't be pulling both herself and him so tight against the bars. With how thin the skin of a cat Faunus' ears is, it didn't take long for Alyss to fully grow her father's ears back. Only five minutes to restore both the appearance and the function of them both. It left Alyss breathless as she took her hands from his head.

"There..." Alyss yawned and stood up from him, "I don't care if you don't have pride in yourself anymore, just don't do that to yourself. I don't care the reason, a Faunus shouldn't do that to themselves _or_ others."

Idris' ears flicked around almost wildly before they settled into stillness. "I won't..."

"What caused you to change your thinking?" Haile asked.

Idris and Lilith let go of each other and Lilith stood up from him. Idris took a deep breath as he brought a hand up to his reformed ears. "I was already having second thoughts about everything. In the prison, they let us watch the tournament. I saw... a _Schnee_ of all people, working flawlessly with the Faunus girl on her team. And in that final match, I saw Jace offer his hand and she didn't hesitate before shaking it. She even complimented him on how he fought... I thought it was genuine, and that's what made me break down."

"Hmm... I know in Menagerie, Jace and Alyss dealt with racists that called Jace a traitor to the Faunus for that," Haile walked forward and crouched down in front of Idris, "But _you_ actually believed it was true?"

Idris nodded. "I did."

"Well... Just _that_ makes me wonder what in the world the White Fang told you, or if they even _convinced_ you of anything."

"Are you saying they didn't need to convince him?" Lilith asked him.

Haile shook his head slowly. "No, that's not it. All I'm saying is that there are a lot of semblances out there..."

Idris' eyes widened. "I-I don't even remember anyone acting like they were using one..."

"So... you're saying..." Lilith's eyes began watering again as she shook her head in disbelief, "I-it was n-never his choice?"

Haile shrugged. "I wouldn't know, Lily. There's no way to know."

"If so, then..." Jace sighed as his attitude turned more apologetic to the broken Faunus, "Gods..." He looked away from Idris and up to the ceiling, "I'm... sorry. If they just had someone with a semblance to make a person believe anything or completely mess your thoughts up... That's a freaking terrifying thought."

"Hey," A man came up to them all and cleared his throat a bit, "Time's about up for him to be taken back to the prison."

"O-oh..." Lilith couldn't find much to say to Idris after hearing what she had heard.

Idris finally rose from the floor and went to walk to his bed. "I-Idris?" Lilith stopped him.

He turned back to her, shame in his eyes. "I don't know what happened... But I was careless either way..."

Lilith reached through the bars and gave him a lighter hug. "Even if that was the case... i-it doesn't excuse what you've done."

Idris nodded and once again hesitated before returning the hug. "I understand... I'm sorry."

* * *

"Oh, Lilith, Alyss, it's good to see you both once again," Headmistress Blaine greeted the cat Faunus when they stepped through the door to her office, "I didn't expect a visit from you. Is everything going well?"

"Everything's fine..." Alyss answered her, her sad voice betraying her words.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't sound like it. What's the matter?"

"We... went to see Idris..." Lilith said quietly.

"You did?" Blaine asked, "Why would you? You went to Vale to be away from him, didn't you?"

They both nodded and Alyss opened her mouth to speak, but Jace cut her off. "Lilith told Alyss why he turned out how he did, and she wanted to talk to him herself." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing softly.

"Oh, I apologize for being so rude," Blaine said to him, "Who are you?"

"He's my mate," Alyss said with a smile, bringing her hand up to place over his, "And the leader of our team."

"Oh, I remember now. You made it to the final match of the tournament. Good to meet you. You fought well," Blaine said to Jace, "And what your father said was very emotional. It actually made me cry to hear that."

Jace laughed a bit. "Sorry, ma'am."

"Don't be. It was because I was happy to hear about such a kind soul like your father's," Blaine smiled at him and addressed them all, "How did your meeting turn out?"

"Better than what we thought it would..." Alyss said, then she and Lilith began retelling what happened.

Lilith could hardly speak about it without stuttering and her eyes welling up on her, so Jace helped tell everything that she tried. Blaine took in everything she heard with multiple expressions from anger, sadness, and a bit of happiness that one of her former students was doing well.

"...We have no way of knowing if that's true... If a semblance was used to make him turn that way," Alyss said with a heavy sigh, "He used to be the only person I hated... Now I just feel sorry for him. He cut his own ears off because he thinks he's a disgrace and he doesn't have pride in himself. He looks skinnier than what's healthy too. I don't think he's been eating right. I think I might be at peace now with knowing what happened."

Blaine gave an audible sigh. "When I first heard that you both were leaving because of him, I didn't know what to think. I hoped justice would be brought to him but if all of that is true... then he may have been a victim as much as you two. But, you're here now and you're both okay, and perhaps Idris is on his way to a recovery."

"I still hate him for what he did to Alyss," Jace sighed, "But I just learned about everything yesterday. I'm more scared than anything now that there could be people with semblances like that out there. It's terrifying."

"It truly is," Blaine shook her head at the possibility, "I am happy that you feel at peace and the move to Vale worked out for the best."

Alyss nodded and smiled at her former headmaster. "So are we, ma'am. Thank you again for accepting my transfer. Jace is the best person that's come into my life."

Blaine returbed that smile. "I'm glad, Alyss. I hope you lead a happy life."

 **XxXxX**

 **AN: That's a wrap for A Second Chance. I hope anyone who reads this far enjoyed it. It was fun to write something more relaxed. If anyone wants to answer, what was your favorite moment in this story? I'm curious to hear.**

 **I guess with that, you probably won't be hearing from me until I finish up the sequel to The Brave and the Bold. See you later, and have a nice day!**


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